Ressurection
by Duel Mistress K
Summary: (Armada [AU-ish]) Sixteen is heeeere! Aftermath of her escape, plus she finds her Transformer name! FINALLY! COMPLETED
1. The End

DMK: This is the prologue to a fic I was thinking of writing. I know this is similar to the one Ashana started, but I couldn't help myself! This idea just popped into my head and I HAD to write it! So don't hurt meh! ::cringes:: If I copied anybody else in any way and you don't want this fic posted, tell me and I'll take it down, okay? Now that this has been said, go ahead and read! Sorry if the POV is a little funky, too. And this first chappie is a semi-songfic thingie to 3 Doors Down's When I'm Gone. Never done a songfic before, so be nice.  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
  
_There's another world inside of me   
That you may never see.  
There's secrets in this life   
that I can't hide.   
_  
  
Death.  
  
It can strike in the blink of an eye. Or can creep up as slow as molasses on a cold day. And it can take anyone, anywhere. Right now death was taking its sweet old time, and well, the anyone' it was claiming?  
  
That's me.   
  
I have the Autobots standing over me. All of them are worried or scared. Or both. Red-Alert is trying his very hardest to keep me alive. But he hardly knows anything about human anatomy. I tell him it's okay, that this happens.  
  
And to just let me go.  
  
He wouldn't dare, I know that. He shakes his head and answers me in his stern voice that he couldn't just let his friend die without trying, without giving me another chance.  
  
But he _has_ tried. There isn't going to _be_ another chance.  
  
  
_Somewhere in this darkness,   
There's a light that I can't find.   
Maybe it's too far away.  
Or maybe I'm just blind...  
_  
  
The three kids are nearby, too. Alexis is hugging Rad, crying her eyes out. Rad and Carlos are shedding silent tears. They can't believe death is taking someone that was always there, that they couldn't picture leaving them.  
  
I can see Hotshot is both sad and angry at the same time. He's trying to keep his feelings hidden, but his fists are clenched and his teeth are as well. He doesn't want me to go. Then, I discover Transformers _can_ cry. A tear of Energon forms in the corner of his optic, and then travels down his metal cheek to fall and hit the floor.  
  
Optimus' optics are wridden with several feelings. But I can sense fury there. He's not mad at me, no way, he failed in keeping us safe while here on Earth. He's kicking himself for messing up. I tell him that it's not his fault. That stray missle could've hit anyone. He looks down at me, apologetically, then says he's so sorry. He knows I won't survive.  
  
  
_So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong.  
Hold me when I'm scared, And love me when I'm gone.  
Everything I am, and everything you need.  
I'll also be the one you wanted me to be.  
I'll never let you down, even if I could.  
I'd give up everything if only for your good.  
So hold me when I'm here, love me when I'm wrong.  
You can hold me when I'm scared, I won't always be there.  
So love me when I'm gone...  
_  
  
Smokescreen is silent. Well aware that I'll be gone in a few moments' time. The orange and blue mech still can't grasp it somehow. He had survived _his_ tangle with death, right? Well, why shouldn't _I_ be able to do the same?  
  
Jetfire is standing nearby, and tells me to try and fight It, to try and hold on. I say; If I could, then I would, but I can't. Sorry, Jets. He steps back involuntarily upon the grim realization of what was to befall me.  
  
Blurr is being his usual quiet self. Though I can see his orange optics are pitifully trying to squint those Energon Tears away. His arms are held losely at his sides, not up high like they typically are.  
  
  
_... Roaming through this darkness,  
I'm alive, but I'm alone.  
Part of me is fighting this,  
But part of me is gone._  
  
  
Sideswipe, is openly crying, though silent. His teeth are gritted as well, as he attempts to stop those tears from falling.  
  
Scavenger tries to stay stoic, though I can see he, like all of the others, is devastated. He is no longer standing tall with his arms crossed like always and that stern look in his eyes. Currently, he was the exact opposite. Poor me, I was probably one of the only humans that had trusted him in the beginning.   
  
In all of their minds, I was the _last_ person they thought would be struck down.  
  
That's how it always is.  
  
Then, I get the warriors' salute, much like Smokescreen did when he fell in battle. I smile one last time at my surrogate family.  
  
  
_So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong.  
Hold me when I'm scared, And love me when I'm gone.  
Everything I am, and everything you need.  
I'll also be the one you wanted me to be.  
I'll never let you down, even if I could.  
I'd give up everything, if only for your good.  
So hold me when I'm here, love me when I'm wrong.  
You can hold me when I'm scared, I won't always be there.  
So love me when I'm gone...  
  
Love me when I'm gone...  
When I'm gone...  
When I'm gone..._  
  
  
As my eyes begin to close for the last time, I hear Red-Alert telling Optimus that there may be one last way to save me. One last glimmer of hope that could keep me from being lost in the black void of death forever. But it's never been done before. The procedure might not even work.  
  
The last words I hear before my consciousness fades are Optimus': Whatever the risk, we _must_ take it. For Caitin's sake.  
  
TBC  
  
  
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DMK: Now was that sad or what? Heck, I even got a little misty-eyed writing it! I had to stop about three times to pull myself together, too. I know this idea isn't original, but I really wanted to give this a try! Please, please, don't get mad at me for using your idea, Ashana!   
Hotshot: No, go ahead! Get mad and hit her with this nice, wooden baseball bat...


	2. Upload

DMK: Okay... here's chapter two! I hope you people will enjoy it...  
DISCLAIMER: I own Caitlin and the Minicon Sideswipe. The idea of turning a dying human into a Transformer is all the other people's who thought of it before me.  
  
Hotshot: *is off in some undisclosed location, unconscious from everyone hitting him*  
  
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CHAPTER 2  
  
  
Red-Alert typed furiously on a nearby console, reading and analyzing the data. He had been there for what seemed like days, trying to find a way to perform this procedure successfully. He'd be slagged if he gave up now.  
  
Optimus silently walked into the med bay, and strode over to the medic. Red-Alert? You've been at this for too long, take a break.  
  
He shook his head. Impossible. Not when I'm so close.  
  
The Autobot leader looked from the prone form of Caitlin to the huge metal box that lay beside her. Will it work?  
  
There's a fifty-fifty chance.  
  
And if not?  
  
Then I suppose there's nothing more we can do for her... Red-Alert trailed off. He typed in one more set of numbers into the keypad. There. Now, let's see if we can do this.  
  
Do what? It was Scavenger. He stepped toward the other two silently, his stance and expression still somber.  
  
I'm attempting to convert Caitlin's particular brain waves into a bionic code, much like our own. If that's successful, we can then, in esscence, transfer her mind into any form we choose.  
  
How is that possible? She's... The often stiff mech stopped. He hated saying that word, nearly choking on it. ...dead, right?  
  
Not completely. I've been sending a periodic series of faint electrical impulses through her body. It's enough to keep her alive for now, but once turned off, yes, her human body will die.  
  
The other two Transformers' faces fell. There's no chance of her being able to live normally again? Optimus asked grimly.  
  
Not as a _human_.  
  
So you mean you're trying to... Prime let it hang.  
  
Place her soul into the body of a Transfomer, yes. And now, let's see if my hypothesis is correct. I'm beginning the conversion... now.  
  
The machine placed in between the huge metal box that seemed like a coffin and the medical table the fading girl's body was on began to give an electric whirr as it powered on. For the next two minutes, the three Transformers were deathly silent, reading the feedback from the computer with scrutiny. Spontaneously, the machine stopped.  
  
  
  
he read over the data. He did a double-take and read it again. ...it worked!  
  
There was a unanimous sigh of elation in the room. So now what?  
  
I can now upload her mind into the Transformer body I've chosen for her. I think you'll be pleased with the design.   
  
Optimus and Scavenger looked to the metal box. In response, Red-Alert pressed a button, causing the walls to fold away. They both smiled upon seeing the femme body.  
  
Let's do it.  
  
  
TBC  
  
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DMK: So, how was that? These chapters will mainly be short though, sorry if that drives people crazy. I can't believe people actually LIKE this... hehe... guess my friend was RIGHT...


	3. Success

DMK: Alright. Here's chappie three!  
  
Hotshot: If anyone still cares, that is.  
  
DMK: PEOPLE DO CARE!!!! I HAVE 9 WHOLE REVIEWS!!! I FEEL SO LOVED!!! ^___^  
  
Hotshot: *sarcastically* Whoopee, nine reveiws... *shuts up at the thought of all the people that would hit him upside the head*  
  
DMK: Oh, and note: the three stars (***) signal either a POV change or a scene change, okay? Glad that's all cleared up.  
  
  
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CHAPTER 3  
  
  
Hotshot roared in anger as he unleashed a fury of laser blasts on moving targets.  
  
He was mad. _Those Decepticons will pay for this, I'll make sure of it! Even if I die in the process, Caitin will be avenged!_ Then, as soon as his temper had flared up, it subsided. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily, still unable to come to grips with what had happened. _Slag you, Thrust! _He shouted in his mind again._ This is far from over!_  
  
Get to your feet, Hotshot. A cold voice ordered from the room's entrance. You know she'd hate to see you like this.  
  
He looked up. The sky-blue and white visage of Blurr was framed in the doorway.  
  
You don't know how I feel, he shot back, turning cold.  
  
For you're information, I _do_, he corrected. Caitlin was a friend to _all_ of us, Hotshot. We _all_ want revenge.  
  
He didn't say anything. He quietly got to his feet and left the room, brushing past Blurr as he went. The speedy Autobot caught Hotshot by the shoulder and turned him around so that they were face-to-face. Don't do anything stupid, Hotshot. The time to get revenge will show itself, soon enough. Wait for it.  
  
Hotshot still didn't speak, but turned and walked off again.  
  
***  
  
I slowly opened my eyes, and the navy form of Red-Alert came into focus. He was peering down into my face, his expression wrought with concern.  
  
I asked softly. What happened? Wasn't I... dead?  
  
he answered, smiling. You're alright, now.  
  
With effort, I sat upright. That's when I noticed Optimus and Scavenger were also in the room, rather shocked upon seeing me. However, something wasn't right.  
  
Is it just me, or did you all shrink? I questioned, looking at the three of them curiously, resulting in the mechs exchanging confused glances.  
  
***  
  
Man, it's just not the same around here. I miss Caitlin so slagging much! Liftor moaned sadly to his partner.  
  
You and me both, little buddy. I know she doesn't want us being all depressed about her, but I really can't help it...  
  
You don't have to be.  
  
Smokescreen and Liftor both turned their heads to see Longarm. What do you mean by that? the orange and blue mech questioned skeptically.  
  
Red-Alert's been working day in and day out in the med bay. You have to come see this for yourself.  
  
Smokescreen raised an eyebrow. Alright. If you say so.  
  
***  
  
  
None of the mechs had answered my question. I asked, shrugging. I then looked down at my body, and realized I was no longer made of flesh.  
  
I was metal.  
  
I was a Transformer!!  
  
Please tell me this is all a dream, I said to Red-Alert, my voice wavering.  
  
Red had begun to shake his head when the med bay door slid open. Taking about two and a half steps before he stopped, was the stout Smokescreen. He looked to the empty table my body had been on, and then back to me. He put two and two together, and his optics went wide.  
  
Please tell me this is all a dream, he said to Red-Alert, exactly the same way I had.  
  
In response, the four of us that had already been in the room shook our heads. Oh, Primus, he said simply. You're alive.  
  
  
TBC  
  
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DMK: Another short chapter! But I love where I leave off and start up again, don't you? Also, I have totally ran myself dry with ideas... I need help with the reactions of the other Bots to seeing her alive again, and I was hoping Hotshot's encounter with her could be a little comedic... Ack, I really can't write that much more, why? I HAVE SUMMER SCHOOL FOR ABOUT FIVE WEEKS!!! Well, the first week is almost up... so that knocks me down to four... oh well. ^^;;


	4. Surprise

Alrighty... I can't believe you guys still like this story... I feel all important and stuff... ^^;; And a bit of thank you to Hotshot94 and Ashana for helping me out of my writer's block!!  
  
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Chapter 4  
  
I don't believe it. You're _alive_.   
  
The look on Smokescreen's face was priceless. He sat down on one of the steel tables hard, speechless and dumbfounded.  
  
What? You look like you've never seen a Transformer before. I told him casually, shrugging.  
  
He finally found his voice and said, Not one that has my _dead friend's soul in it_!! there was a pause, and he sighed. I ain't even gonna _ask_ how this happened...  
  
I gave a half laugh. Good, because I ain't explaining it.  
  
He chuckled in response. Well, whatever the case, you're back. I still don't believe it...  
  
Oh come on, I'm probably gonna get that from the others too.  
  
You mean they don't know?  
  
Optimus cleared his throat. Well, no. I believe it would be wise as to have you go and see them all, Caitlin.  
  
I grinned and rubbed my hands together. This should be fun.  
  
Smokescreen laughed. Yep. You're back. Only Caitlin has a sense of humor like _that_.  
  
Yeah, but who should be my first victim...?  
  
Optimus broke in again. Hotshot should be the first to know. He doesn't understand death as easily as you and I, and he's both confused and angry. He is also beginning to act quite irrational, and I believe it's because of the events that occurred a few days ago. But I don't want any trouble, understood?   
  
I nodded. Yes sir.  
  
***  
  
Hotshot grumbled sourly. Blurr had warned Jetfire about his explosive anger, and the Vice Commander had decided to help him cool down by assigning him chores.  
  
Pfft. _Settle down_, he repeated bitingly under his breath as he took a wet mop to the floor. How about _he_ tries and settles down...  
  
He became lost in his thoughts, most of them angry and hostile. He wasn't really even focusing on his chore, and was subconsciously flooding the area beneath his feet with sudsy water. As he growled under his breath again, something caught his optic.  
  
Coming towards him, was a femme. He was taken by surprise, and as he stepped forward, he slipped on the lose water. he yelped as he fell, hitting his head on the ground and sending him into stasis-lock.  
  
***  
  
When I came out of stasis-lock, I was looking up at a femme I had never seen before: she was short, and was blue-green in color.  
  
_Smooth Hotshot, real smooth_. I scorned myself in my head. _I successfully made myself look like a bumbling idiot_.  
  
Hotshot? Are you... okay?  
  
I moaned as I sat up, feeling my head. The girl in front of me was eye, er, optic-candy, and so, naturally, I threw on the Hotshot Charm'. Am I dead? I began. 'Cuz I'm lookin' at an angel.  
  
She laughed. Cute, real cute. But you're not winning me over that easily, Hotshot.  
  
_That voice... where have I heard it before? She sounds like_--  
  
Who are you?  
  
Two words: I'm baaaaaaaack.  
  
***  
  
Hotshot stood up suddenly and took about three steps back, his optics wide. Ca- Ca- Caitlin?! You're supposed to be dead!!!  
  
I laughed from my kneeling position on the ground. Jeez, settle down! It's only me!  
  
Yeah, AS A TRANSFORMER!!!  
  
I gave him a blank look. So...?  
  
'So'?! Hello?! You're ALIVE!!!  
  
I rubbed my audio receptors. God, keep it down will you? I'm only standing ten feet away.  
  
Hotshot stopped, and looked down at me, still shocked.  
  
  
  
His mouth opened and shut a few times soundlessly before he could squeak a simple,   
  
I stood up fully, Hotshot still looking on in disbelief. Well, good. Now that this is all cleared up, I should tell the others.  
  
Who is there to tell?  
  
Well, Red, Smokey, Scavey, Optimus, and you are the only ones that know so far, I began as I ticked off the names on my fingers. So that leaves... Blurr, Sideswipe, and Jets. Oh, and the kids. I grinned. And I'm gonna have some fun with them...  
  
Hotshot stared. You'll give Blurr a slaggin' spark attack!!  
  
Ah, he'll live.  
  
He smirked. You love driving them nuts, don't you?  
  
If the situation is appropriate, yes. I answered simply, turning toward the target range. I think the next bot on my hit list just so happens to be Blurr... I giggled, completely out of character.  
  
Hotshot grinned. Have fun.  
  
You know I will.  
  
  
TBC  
  
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DMK: I like ending my chapters like this... It's kinda cool, albeit short, but hey, it looks like my story is long!! ^^;; Next time, Blurr and Jetfire hear the news!!


	5. WHAT!

DMK: Eh, well now I have like what, 20 reviews? Dude I feel so cool and stuff!!! ^o^ Eh, anyway, this is prolly not as funny to some of you as it is to others... so don't kill me if it isn't what you were expecting... aside from that, enjoy!!   
And one author's note: in the past, Caitlin earns the nickname Shorty'... a name that she hates, and usually responds to by shouting: DON'T CALL ME SHORTY!!! (she ish VERY sensitive about her height... ^^'')  
  
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Chapter 5  
  
  
From what Hotshot had told me, Blurr was off shooting targets. So, grinning insanely, I snuck down the corridor as quietly as a giant robot could. Which, is actually pretty darn quiet if you try hard enough.  
  
It was a five minutes' saunter to the shooting range that I had loved going to back when I was human, and watched the bots show off their impressive marksmanship. It felt a bit strange to be able to actually shoot the targets now.   
  
From outside the door I could hear the ceramic disks being blasted right and left. I also picked up words being muttered under the shooter's breath, most of them seemed almost venomous.  
  
bang! crash! -Decepticons. You'll- boom! -pay for this, I'll- Bang! -make sure of it.  
  
_Well, SOMEBODY'S in a bad mood,_ I thought, watching the shattered targets fall to the floor like snowflakes. _Thank god for me! I'll change his attitude in five seconds or less..._  
  
Unholstering the laser pistol Hotshot had let me borrow, I stepped into the room casually, and shot one of the targets before Blurr had the chance to pull the trigger. The laser round passed over his right shoulder and made the ceramic disk shatter with a satisfying crash'.  
  
_Eh... THAT was a lucky shot,_ I said in my head. _Well... just think of it as Area 51' back in the arcades... and the targets are the evil mutant aliens... yeah... here's to my imagination._  
  
As Blurr spun around to face me, I fired again, shattering another target that had gone airborne. The shot was inches from his masked face, and it took the red and white disk out instantly.  
  
Calmly, ignoring the stare I was getting from the light blue and white mech, I stepped up to the boundary and began to fire on the targets that were whizzing through the air. Care to join me? I asked him simply, acting as if he wasn't dumbfounded.  
  
He chuckled under his breath, and shook off the initial surprise. As you wish. He turned to face the practice range again, and took aim for a ceramic disk that had been sent flying.  
  
Not bad, I commented, though I knew all of my shots had been dumb luck thus far. I also took aim, and shot a disk from the air.  
  
Two different disks went flying, and Blurr carefully aimed his gun. I don't mean to be rude, but may I ask your name?  
  
My name? I cocked and fired my gun, taking the first target out. You mean you don't recognize me?  
  
Bang! ... No... Am I supposed to?  
  
Crash! Blurr, I'm hurt. It's only been three days...  
  
Boom! He lowered his gun for a moment, and looked at me out of the corner of his optics. Who... are you?  
  
I smirked and resumed aiming my blaster. Understanding that I wasn't going to give him a straight answer, Blurr also pointed his gun to a target.  
  
I fired on my flying disk, and then lowered my gun, waiting for him to take his out.  
  
God, that's TWO of you that haven't been able to recognize Caitlin today...  
  
Blurr was in mid-shot when it hit him. In his shock, he pulled the trigger, missing the target by at least ten feet. I think the loud bang' blotted out an obscenity that I'd rather NOT repeat. He spun around to face me, and tripped over his own feet, landing unceremoniously, half on his side, half on his aft.  
  
Lowering my gun down completely, I bit my metallic lip to stifle my laughter. I placed the borrowed blaster into my hip holster and turned to face him fully.   
  
Well shoot, I thought you'd take it a _lot_ better than that.  
  
He looked up at me with bewildered and fearful orange optics, now rolled fully onto his behind. You- you can't be... _alive_. I saw you _die_.  
  
Well, my _body_ died three days ago but my _soul_ wouldn't rest peacefully. Sooo... I decided to stick around for a while. I extended my hand to him. Slowly, uncertainly, he reached out and took it, and I helped heave the dumbstruck mech to his feet.  
  
You look like you've seen a ghost... are you okay?  
  
Fine. Just... fine.  
  
I snorted. Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Well, if you are indeed fine', I should get going.... I have two more stops on this little campaign of mine...  
  
Two more stops'? What's that supposed to mean?  
  
Well, Jetfire and Sideswipe are pretty much the only two who are still in the dark... Sooo I gotta go tell them now...  
  
Go to Sideswipe first, He told me. That poor kid is so confused right now.  
  
Slowly, a mixed expression on my face, I shook my head. I don't know why, but... he'll be last on my list. Besides, I doubt he'll do anything dumb within the next half-hour, aaaaaaaand, Jetfire's on my way there.  
  
I could sense Blurr smile a bit under his blue mask. Alright. Do as you wish.  
  
I smiled in response. I will. Then, I turned back around and began to head for the door.  
  
And Caitlin?  
  
I looked back.   
  
Tell me what Jetfire does. I'll bet you anything he'll hit the floor.  
  
I rolled my optics. Considering your and Hotshot's reactions, it wouldn't surprise me.  
  
Hey, I tripped! He commented defensively, with a bit of a childish sound to it.  
  
Yeah, yeah.... Keep telling yourself that, Blurr.  
  
He huffed, and used the evil glare'. As retaliation, I turned back again, and began walking. I'll be back, Blurr. And I'll let you know how bad Jetfire takes it, too.  
  
I wasn't looking, but I could tell he was grinning.  
***  
  
Jetfire hummed a little tune he'd picked up while on earth. One from a song that was more angsty and depressing-sounding. But who could blame him?   
  
Like everyone, he was down. Seriously down.  
  
First of all, his human prank partner' was no longer there- how the slag would he pull off his jokes without her? Only a few days before she died, they had done a marvelous job of tarring and feathering a certain medic while he was asleep... and _Hotshot_ had taken the heat! Another wonderful prank was on Scavenger, and let's just say that he'll never go near an unguarded, open container of Energon again- Caitlin had provided the bubble solution, Jetfire had managed to slip it into Scavey's drink whilst his back was turned, and... well, you do the math. Again, it was pinned on Hotshot. There was just so much humor, and then... three days ago, it changed.  
  
Second, like everyone else, his dear friend was gone. One of his first days there- he had already developed a love for the Earth and the humans. He comprehended the fragility of the humans, but hadn't realized it until that last battle. And he was hellbent on revenge.  
  
As Jetfire checked over battle statistics one last time, he got ready to leave for the command center. As he stepped into the doorway, he nearly crashed into Optimus.  
  
Uh, Optimus, sir. I thought I was gonna meet ya in the control room. He stated, a bit confused.  
  
The matter isn't of _dire_ proportions, but I must inform you that there's a new addition to the team.  
  
A new addition'? Jets echoed. Was another Autobot here?  
  
Looking over his commander's shoulder, he saw a femme head in their direction. Upon seeing Optimus, her optics brightened with a bit of surprise. Jetfire also looked a bit shocked.  
  
Once she had reached them, Hey, Optimus. Fancy meeting you here.  
  
He nodded toward her in acknowledgement, then looked back to Jetfire, who was still a bit stunned. This would be our new warrior.  
  
Now that the Vice Commander's senses had finally been gathered, he took the time to look her over. If stood back to back, she would come up to about the middle of his chest.  
  
My, aren't you a shorty, he said a bit teasingly.  
  
The femme, Jetfire sensed, _didn't_ like being called that. At a closer look, she seemed maybe a year or two younger than Sideswipe, which, in human years, is seventeen.  
  
Nice to meet you, too- she retorted a bit gratingly, pausing for only a moment.   
  
_Okay,'_ he thought. _Serious case of deja-vu... And how the heck does she know my name?'_  
  
Have we... met before? Jetfire asked a bit slowly, trying to make sense of her.  
  
she answered coyly, not breaking optic contact with him.  
  
_Argh! Why do I feel like I know her?! Eh, snap out of it Jets, your memory bank is gettin' too old... yeah, that's it... too old... Wait! I'M NOT OLD!!! Smokescreen is old! NOT me! But... man... she's so slagging familiar... AHH! I'm getting Transformer Alzhimers!! ...wait- is there even such a thing as Transformer Alzhimers...?_  
  
Optimus gave an uncomfortable cough, and snapped Jetfire out of his mental conversation with himself.  
  
Jetfire said kindly, quite composed outwardly. It's nice to meet you... Shorty... he snickered. This did remind him of his late friend, but it was subconscious reaction.  
  
She handled the first Shorty' reference with just a glare, but this time... Hey! DON'T CALL ME SHORTY!!  
  
Jetfire stepped back suddenly, his optics wide, while under his mask, Optimus grinned. The femme gasped upon realizing just WHAT she had done.  
  
_Alright... familiar voice, similar sense of humor, despising me when called Shorty'... There is only ONE person I know of that's like that...'_  
  
His voice was now a little bit above a whisper.   
  
What- were you expecting the Easter Bunny?  
  
From the shock, Jetfire lost the will to stand, and just simply sat down in the middle of his quarters with a satisfying crash!'. He could do little more than stare up at her with stunned and wide optics.  
  
The femme standing over him laughed. That makes three of them that have hit the floor. She watched Jetfire for a few moments. Are you... okay?  
  
I'm. Just. Peachy.  
  
She grinned and giggled to herself. For some reason though, a bit of doubt had suddenly risen in Jetfire's mind. Well okay, if you ARE Caitlin, tell me something that only SHE would know.  
  
The short, blue-green Transformer looked thoughtful for only a moment. Well... I know that when it came to tar and feathering Red-Alert and putting the bubbles in Scavenger's Energon, Hotshot was completely innocent. You and I did it.  
  
He gasped and pointed a wavering finger from his seat on the ground. Holy Primus! You ARE Caitlin!!  
  
Optimus just stared, and then the two realized just what they had unwittingly confessed to their commander. Caitlin turned to Prime quickly. Oh please! DON'T tell Scavenger! He'll wring my neck!  
  
Jetfire was still sitting. You think Scavenger is bad?! You ain't seen nothing until you watch Red go off!!  
  
Optimus laughed softly at their dismay. I can't guarantee anything, but I will think about it.  
  
Both of them sighed in relief, and Caitlin turned back to the floored Jetfire. Come on, man. I've still got to go see Sideswipe... She offered him one of her hands.  
  
You'd better, He answered as he took her hand. He's just about as messed up as Hotshot is over this whole thing...  
  
No duh, She replied back a bit dryly, pulling him up with some effort.   
  
Jetfire watched her, amused, as she brought him to his feet with a bit of trouble. She was pretty small compared to him, after all. Glad you're back, midget. Playing pranks on everyone just isn't the same without ya.  
  
She grinned back, and looked then to Optimus, with an expression that said, Well, looks like my work here is done...'  
  
Prime acknowledged her glance with a nod. Well, I suppose you and I should get going, Jetfire. We have to start analyzing that data on the Minicons.  
  
Right, I forgot about that.  
  
As Caitlin walked back to the door with the other two mechs, she could have sworn she saw something yellow peering into the room. She had no idea that Hotshot had heard the WHOLE thing.  
  
Smiling to herself, she went down the corridor to the opposite end of the base, where Sideswipe was.  
  
He was next.  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
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Weeeeeeell, how was that? IT'S LONGER THAN THE OTHER ONES, SO BOOYAH!! *cough* .... This one I finished about three weeks before I actually posted it, but... eh, I've been away. Aaaaaanyway, I brought this fic in its entirety to one of my summer English class friends, and this poor schmoe asked, Oooh! this fic is so cuuute! Please tell me- is she gonna fall for one of them?' I just stared and answered, ... Uhhh... no...?' That would be so.... I dunno, weird? Though I HAVE read a fic like that somewhere... o.O'' What do all of you think? I'm indifferent to that notion... and I think the fic won't change regardless. Though, in the verysmallchance than you approve of romance, I could do a whole lotta self-doubt and angst... and a lotta self-doubt and angst is a very, very GOOD thing!! ^___~   
Also, for anyone that has played Heavy Metal War, I have a little fic in the works based on my Autobot team, the Red Cross'. Well, Tell me what you think about this idea of mine, and that question my friend introduced... Should there be ANY romance?' *rolls eyes* Okay... these Author's Notes are getting longer and longer, so I'll leave now... I want some poptarts...


	6. Reuniting

DMK: Well, here's chapter six. There's a flashback here because I felt like it... that was mostly in a feeble attempt to smite my evil writer's block... This one focuses on Sideswipe, who is devastated about Caitlin's death, probably more so than most of the bots. Why? You'll find out. Oh, and forgive me if Swipey's reaction is a bit funky... but come on, when Hotshot saved him he was bawling like a baby! Plus, he's the ONLY Autobot I know that shouts 'SOMEBODY NEEDS A HUUUUUG!!'.... Eh, I have said too much... read on.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 6  
  
  
  
Well, breaking the news to the first three mechs was pretty easy. I had purposefully kept my good buddy Swipey for last, prolly because of the fact that he was one of the ones that I would classify as a best friend. Well, a big, metal, transformable one from another galaxy, but a best friend just the same.  
  
FLASHBACK  
I had just entered the base, and both Jolt and my Minicon had come to me saying that there was a new recruit by the name of Sideswipe. Interested, I followed him to the shooting range, where, like he had said, was a new mech. A young one, who was having a very difficult time trying to hit a stationary target. He let lose one shot, and it missed by several feet.  
  
Hotshot, who was trying to teach him the basics, laughed. Primus, what were you aiming for, one of your imaginary friends?  
  
In response, the newcomer growled, and fired about ten shots, blowing the target to pieces. Hotshot again laughed, clearly NOT impressed with this youngster's skills. I walked into the room fully as he tossed another insult his way.  
  
I said, a bit irritated. Lay off him, alright? You weren't any better until Scavenger showed up and straightened you out....  
  
The yellow mech stopped his badgering, and turned my way. Hey! Well whaddya know? Shorty's here!!  
  
Dude, don't CALL me that, I growled, glaring up at him. The black, gray, and blue mech had again taken aim, and missed. I cringed at seeing how innacurate he was. Hotshot had opened his mouth once more to insult him, when I cut him off. The youth was getting VERY frustrated, and so, remembering a bit of shooting advice from an old Disney movie (Pochahantas, when Smith is teaching his friend how to aim... u_u;;), asked Sideswipe, Are both of your eyes open?  
  
He looked down at me, confused.   
  
When you aim. Are both of your eyes open? I repeated again.  
  
Uh... no.  
  
Well, try that. It just might help.  
  
Skeptically, the young mech steadied his gun, and repeated the phrase, both eyes open...' under his breath. He let a single shot fly, and, like I had hoped, it hit the target dead-center. Hotshot stared down at me, a bit dumbfounded. How the heck did you know that?  
  
I grinned up at him and answered smugly, Lucky guess. Hotshot was left speechless, and this time, Sideswipe had a chance to get even with him. Not able to take a dose of his own medcine', he left, muttering various statements. Once he was gone, Sideswipe had begun to shoot targets down left and right, pleased with his accuracy. Not bad, I commented, watching him blast another target.  
  
You really think so? he asked, turning back around to look at me. I nodded, smiling. Thanks, uh-  
  
My name's Caitlin. And you?  
  
You can call me Sideswipe. Nice to meet you. And uh, thanks for getting Hotshot to lay off on me... I was getting pretty darn tired of it.  
  
Don't mention it.  
END FLASHBACK  
  
It was then that our frienship began. And since then, we got tight. Like, absolute best friends tight. I never honestly thought me dying' would have had such a bad influence on him... I mean, he was always to cheery and upbeat.... and maybe even hyper... Like Sai Saici from G-Gundam hyper. But man, from what I had heard, he was a wreck.  
  
***  
  
Sideswipe was in his quarters, silent, sitting at his desk, busy typing into what resembled a human Journal. He hadn't even heard the door to his room slide open.  
  
He was too preoccupied at the moment. Busy trying to get his feelings into that journal. Like Hotshot, he was everything at once. Sad. Confused. Angry. Devastated. Like there was something missing. There were no more daily pranks with Caitlin and Jetfire, no more insane through the entire base' chases with Caitlin and Jetfire _because_ of one of those daily pranks. It was depressing. And he _didn't_ like it. But he was mad as well. Everytime even a trace of a memory of one of those accursed Decepticons entered his mind, his anger would flare, and sometimes the first thing that moved would be the target of that same rage. Then, as soon as it had came, it would flood away, leaving him feeling drained and often he would cry. He didn't care if he looked like a crybaby'... this kind of pain hurt, and _badly_. Primus, how he wished that one morning he'd just wake up and she'd be there again.  
  
Heya Swipey! A cheery voice greeted from the doorframe.  
  
He stopped what he was doing and looked up from his work, shocked at hearing an incredibly familiar voice speak his nickname. Before him, he found himself looking at a short, but young, blue-green femme smiling at him, her expression amused.   
  
Who... are you? he asked, not recognizing her.  
  
Oh come on, not you too! I was hoping at least ONE of you would recognize little ol' Shorty by now....  
  
He just stared in shock. ..... Caitlin?  
  
The femme bowed a little. The one and only!  
  
Thankfully Sideswipe was already sitting, because if he had been standing, the shock would have long-ago sent him to the floor. For what seemed like five minutes, he was paralyzed from the utter shock, unable to move, speak, or even think.  
  
Uh... Sideswipe? You okay in there? Cybertron to Sideswipe...  
  
In a second he had gathered his senses and was up, and had instantly pulled the human-turned-Transformer into a tight bear hug, sobbing, I- I can't believe it!! You're alive!! I thought you were lost forever and that you'd never come back and-  
  
Dude, Sideswipe, settle down! It's okay.  
  
The youth realized what he was doing, and sheepishly released her. Oops, sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away...  
  
A little? THAT's an understatement... She muttered gruffly.  
  
Sorry, but Primus!! I thought you were never coming back!!  
  
You can't keep me down for THAT long, you know. I'm like a boomerang, I always come back one way or another.  
  
He smiled. Well come on then! We gotta go tell the others!  
  
Caitlin paused. Uhh... they already know...  
  
They do?  
  
Yeah. Jetfire nearly passed out from the shock and Blurr just about had a heart attack, while Hotshot looked so scared it wasn't even funny.  
  
The young mech in front of her cracked up at the thought of the three aforementioned Autobots' reactions. "You're kidding!"  
  
"Nope," she told him. "Even ask Optimus. He saw Jetfire go nuts. Buuuut... he also found out about our little pranks on Scavenger and Red..."  
  
"You mean when you two tarred and feathered Red and used the old 'spike the drink with bubbles' bit on Scavenger?!"  
  
She nodded. "Yup. Even Jets admitted to it."  
  
Sideswipe laughed. "Man, if those two ever find out..." he let it hang.  
  
"I know. We'd both be screwed."  
  
"Glad I wasn't in on those two jokes..."  
  
"Yes, but you DID help me and Jets with the ever-classic 'ink in the energon' and 'superglue' pranks..."  
  
He laughed. "I still think Hotshot's mouth is black from that..."  
  
"I wouldn't be surprised... Well, I guess this means that I'm one of you guys now."  
  
"Are you gonna fight with us?"  
  
"I sure as heck hope so, because I REALLY wanna get back at Conehead for doing this to me in the first place..."  
  
You know I'll help, cuz even though you're back, I'm still out for revenge!  
  
Caitlin smiled. Well, glad to see that. Though... I will actually have to train a bit before I can actually fight...  
  
Oh boy... I can just see Scavenger wearing you out until you can't walk...  
  
Him wear me out? I don't think so. She told him confidently. Don't forget that I have outsmarted that hunk of steel on several occasions... I mean, granted that I played several great pranks without him ever getting a clue, but still, that's skill.  
  
He laughed. You make it sound like it's an art or something...  
  
Just like many people think battle is an art. It's not much different, you know.  
  
Yeah well-  
  
Without warning, the Minicon Alarm blared throughout the base. Caitlin rubbed her hands together excitedly. This is gonna be fun.  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
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DMK: Yes, I am the QUEEN of CLIFFIES!! Go ahead, hate me. I careth not. Wait, yeah I do. I do care if you hate me, just like I care if you review or not, so please review this one! NO FLAMES! I typed that little prank conversation to see if just randomly writing things would get me back into the swing of things... Eh, so much for that. u_u'' Aaaaanyway, I now have TWO DAYS OF SUMMER SCHOOL! BWAHAHAHA!! Funny ting is, we're doing short stories... ones with plot, rising action, climax, and resolution... they have to be about five pages written... buuuuut, I took my fic 'About Face' in its entirety and just made the font smaller... hehehehe... I'm all set for that assignment. ^_^ Then again, my friend Katie wouldn't stop nagging me about it... oh, and hey Cory! I still think you should write your story about 'Inquisitive Carl' (parody of Curious George...) ... But that Southern Hick one of yours works too... *cough* sorry... Just, eh, talking to one of my classmates... ^^''' Anyway, Review!!


	7. First Fight!

DMK: I am going UPDATE HAPPY!!! ^_____^ WHOOOO! Anyway, I've got nothing much to say in the authors note section except for ENJOY! And uhh…. The 'battle' sequence that I know a lot of you will laugh at was originally devised by flamestrike, and further polished off by yours truly, sooo…HAVE FUN!!  
  
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Chapter 6  
  
  
  
"So what's the problem, sir?" Hotshot asked, looking out at the monitor. "Another Minicon?"  
  
Prime nodded. "It certainly seems that way."  
  
"So what're we waitin' for? Lets save it before the D-cons get their slimy hands on it!" Smokescreen announced in a gung-ho tone.  
  
"We will, as soon as the last two members of the team show up," Scavenger responded a bit crossly.  
  
Then, almost on cue, Jetfire, Sideswipe, AND Caitlin came running into the room.  
  
"We're all ready to go sir!" Jetfire said quickly, giving a small salute, as Sideswipe and the now Transformerized human nodded.  
  
Scavenger stared. "Excuse me… no one said you could come Caitlin… its much too dangerous for someone with no battle experience."  
  
"Well I won't get any experience if I don't go out and learn, right?"  
  
He glared down at the diminutive femme. "You're not going."  
  
"AWW! Optimus, can I PLEASE go?"  
  
The Autobot leader thought for a moment. "Well…."  
  
"You can't seriously let her come along!" the green and purple Autobot cut in. "She could be a serious hindrance in battle!"  
  
Cait huffed and glared back at the tactician. "Will NOT…"  
  
Optimus had finally come to his consensus. "You can come just this once, but you MUST stay close to one of us in case the battle gets a bit heated, understand?"  
  
"Yay!"  
  
Scavenger's jaw dropped. HE WAS LETTING HER GO?! The war-hardened mech didn't have a good feeling about this at all…  
  
*****  
  
After warping to the battlefield, the team of assembled Autobots saw no sign of the Decepticons. "See?" Caitlin started cooly to her 'antagonist'. "those scum bags are-"  
  
But she was interrupted by a torrent of laser fire  
  
"You were SAYING?!" Scavenger quipped, covering his face with one of his big hands as the laser rounds rained down.   
  
"WHO CARES?! SCATTER!" Hotshot shouted, diving behind a rock with Jetfire. Caitlin then found herself being yanked roughly by Scavenger and Blurr into a half-cave, where they took refuge also.  
  
"Slag, they're really cracking down on us," Blurr noted under his breath, watching Starscream strafe the rock formation that Hotshot and Jetfire were using as cover.  
  
"Hence why we shouldn't be just sitting here!" The newest team member stated. "Lets go!" She stood up, but was yanked back down into a crouching position by Scavenger.  
  
"YOU are staying HERE."  
  
"Prime said I could fight!" she protested, reclaiming her arm from Scavenger's grasp and stepping a ways back.  
  
"You've only been in that body for a few hours, do you HONESTLY think you could handle it?!"  
  
Blurr had taken note of Cyclonus as he closed in on their small hiding spot, and shoved the two quarreling Transformers to the ground along with him. "DUCK!"  
  
Scavenger growled and again glared at Caitlin. "See? This battle is much too heated, now stay put!"  
  
She stood up, her optics shimmering. "Heck no, make me!" Unfortunately for her, she hadn't noticed Cyclonus transform and land behind her.  
  
"Weeeeel, lookie what we have here!" Cyc said in that supposedly evil tone. "Aren't YOU the cutest Autobot femme I've ever seen!"  
  
At that, Caitlin straightened up and turned to face Cyclonus. "EXCUSE me?!"  
  
The Decepticon ignored her and called to his leader, "Hey! Megatron! Can I take her home with me, PLEEEEEEEESE?!"  
  
Megatron was just a tad busy as he fought off Optimus with the Starsaber, and he growled. "Do as you wish you fool, just DEFEAT THOSE AUTOBOTS!"  
  
Cyc grinned a bit lecherously and looked her way again. "What the boss wants, he gets..."  
  
That ticked the human-former even more. Cyclonus cackled at this, while Scavenger and Blurr just watch this unfold. Mad as Hades, the blue-green femme ran straight towards him in an attempt to introduce his orange mug to her fist, the HARD way.   
  
"Take THIS you short-circuited toaster!" And, with a punch that was rather strong, she swung out at him. But, the Decepticon caught her fist with one hand a bit easily and quickly put her into a stranglehold. "Agh! PUT ME DOWN YOU CREEP!"  
  
"I don't think so, missy!" He said teasingly. "Yer comin' back to the base with me! I am a LOT a' fun once ya get to know me, Tootz..."  
  
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!"  
  
CRASH!  
  
"OW!"  
  
BANG!  
  
"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!"  
  
SMACK!  
  
"I GIVE I GIVE!"  
  
Pretty much everyone nearby stopped at the sudden outburst and watched as the cloud of dust rose up. And, emerging from the cloud, fuming and tense, was Caitlin, who had her hands clenched into fists. She stopped and watched for a few moments.  
  
Sideswipe stared. "What... just happened?"  
  
When the dust settled, there was Cyclonus, a hand-shaped dent on one cheek, lying face-up on the ground. Upon realization of what had just happened, Hotshot, Jetfire, and Sideswipe all burst out into explosive laughter. Caitlin walked back to the three, and was greeted by both a high five and a power noogie.  
  
She glared back at the dazed Cyclonus. "Dont you EVER call me Tootz again." With that, she and the other Autobots, snickering and giggling insanely, warped away from the battlefield, the Minicon secured.  
  
After about five minutes, Cyclonus finally gathered his senses. "Oh yeah, she wants me."  
  
  
TBC  
  
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DMK: HA! Cyclonus got b*tch slapped by a femme! ^_____^ Thanks again for giving me the inital idea, Flamestrike! That was kinda funny! Anyway, uhh... I have no idea what the next chapter should be about, other than the three kids finding out who she really is, what alt. mode she chooses, and uhh... maybe she devises a Transformer name for herself or something... Alright, enough from me, I leave you now, with a SMILE! :D


	8. Training!

Okay… took me a while to think a' somethin' else… but uhh… this is a nonsense chapter, with a LOAD of stuff to go on hopefully… yesssssss…. Also, the beginning of one of the best prank wars ever takes off, maybe rivaled by the one that will show up in 'A New Bot in Town' …and argh, I'm leaning to a pairing that is SO overlooked its scary… and NO, I'm not being a fangirl and hooking her up with Sideswipe or Redalert… nooooo…… anyhoo, its someone else. Sideswipe'll get someone soon, as will another pretty lonely Autobot… eh-heh, there, I ruined it. T____T oh well. Read. Now. I commandeth you!

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Chapter 8

"Hhehehehehahaha! Dude, that was AWESOME!" Hotshot said though his laughter, clapping Caitlin on the back. 

^_^'' "Aw, that was nothing…"

"Nothing? You made a monkey outta Cyclonus!" Sideswipe responded, also chuckling.

"-With a less than desirable technique," The harsh voice of Scavenger added stiffly.

"Aw come on Scavenger, give her a break! She got the job done!"

"Barely." He quipped, shooting Hotshot a 'shut up' glare. "And for that very reason, Prime has requested that I train you."

"WHAT?! YOU train ME?!"

Scavenger's stern look became a smug grin. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"AWWWW! THAT'S BOGUS!" the femme whined, letting her hands fall to her sides limply.

"No, that's the way life goes. Now stop complaining. You have a few hours before your first lesson, so try and get used to your body as best you can… perhaps you should choose a Transformation while you're at it."

Caitlin whined, and turned to leave. "Great. Just when I thought I'd never have to speak the word 'school' again………"

Once she was gone, Hotshot turned to his former teacher. "…You ARE gonna go easy on her, right?"

"…Why should I? She does indeed show potential…"

Hallway:

As Caitlin stalked down the hall, she began to think of the coolest/most wicked alt mode. She had heard Jetfire complain about being the only Transformer to have the ability to fly, so she definitely wanted something that could fly… but what?

She could be an eagle if she wanted, easy enough, but an alt like that wouldn't give Scavey a hard time… What about… Her mind wandered, and soon something hit her. It wasn't a living creature, but with the proper tweaking, she would be awesome!

An hour later…

Caitlin walked out of the medbay, after helping RedAlert with the design for her alt mode. Silently, she thanked Kazuki Takahashi and the game that inspired her transformation. At the same time, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis had entered the base, and rounded the corner just as Cait did. 

"AHHH! DECEPTICON!" Carlos shouted suddenly. "RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIIFE!!!!"

She stopped walking and stared down at the three. "Uhh… no? I'm an Autobot…" She told them slowly, not sure about what to do next.

"Who are you?" Rad was the first to ask.

"Umm… a friend? Yeah, I'm kinda new here…"

Alexis, Rad, and Carlos all exchanged skeptical glances. "We mean your name."

"Oh… uhh… Well… you wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

"Oh yeah?" Alexis responded. "Try us."

"Umm… Oooookayyyy… Well it's me… Caitlin."

The three exchanged skeptical glances, and then burst out laughing. "HAHAHA! GOOD ONE!!" Carlos said though his loud laughter. "No really, what's your name?"

Caitlin put her hands on her hips and looked down at them. "I'm NOT kidding… RedAlert brought me back in this body…"

Rad turned pale. "You… you really ARE her, aren't you?"

She kept a straight face and nodded. "Yup… it's me."

The three stared for what seemed like ten minutes, until Caitlin realized that she had to get to the training hall in about a minute and a half… and she remembered how Scavenger was when Hotshot forgot he had a training session… "Look, I gotta go… I have a training class like, right now…"

"You mean Scavenger's training you?!" 

"Unfortunately… yes…BUT… I was smart enough to pick a Transformation that'll keep him on his toes…"

Carlos noticed the dragon-like wings that were tucked over her back. "No kidding dude… well I don't want you to be like, late…"

"Yeah… so I'll see you all later!"

And with that, she unfolded her wings and took off toward the training hall, already a few minutes late. When she zoomed into the darkened room, she thought she was the only one there. "Hah, and I was worried that he would already be here…"

"And I am." Scavenger's harsh voice quipped from an unseen direction. "It's not the best way to start of your training by being late…"

"Well this isn't exactly tenth grade biology or something…" she said under her breath.

"So you're back talking me now too?" His voice seemed to be growing closer, and was turning a bit more hostile.

As a human she had the liberty of doing such a thing, but didn't suffer any serious repercussions short of being dangled twenty-odd feet above the ground and given a long-winded lecture. She still felt she had that over him, so she nodded into the dim light rather confidently.

"Then you'd better be on your guard!"

Caitlin jumped at his shout, and was greeted with a slam from her left. "Agh! HEY!"

"What? Am I being too harsh on you?" He mocked from some unseen direction.

"You wish, Scavenger!" 

"Heh… You've certainly kept your tenacity, despite your death… Admirable…"

She listened as he spoke, and honed in on his deep voice easily. "Transform!" she shouted, jumping into the air, but fell flat on the ground, still in her bot mode. "What!? I can't transform?! What a rip off!"

The lights flickered on, but hardly illuminated the huge room. Then, she heard Scavenger's footfalls near her. "You're not focusing on transforming. Now on your feet and try again."

She pulled herself to her knees and then sorely stood, her pride damaged more than her body. "Okay… focus..." she inhaled, and thought about changing into her alt form. "….Transform!" She shouted, jumping into the air.

This time, Caitlin felt something strange happen. Her knees reversed direction, and the four spurs on the back of her thigh swung around to replace her feet, and become long, sharp talons. Her head slid down between her shoulders, so for a second she seemed without a head, and the long muzzle that was folded down her chest (ala Starscream's nosecone) popped up, now held high by a long, thick neck. The horns on that head swiveled around, so that they were now swept back, and her wings expanded fully. Last, her five-fingered hands reverted up into her wrist, and the three-fingered claws that were on her elbow slid forward, so that she had long sharp claws in place of her hands. Caught up in this transformation (and wanting to possibly spook Scavenger), she gave a metallic roar, and exhaled flames from her mouth.

She was a massive, blue-green and silver dragon.

Her tutor grinned. "Very impressive! Now, the question is, can you use that form to your advantage?"

"I think I already know the answer to THAT…" Giving a dragon-toothed grin, she took to the air and swooped down, ready to strafe the bulldozer Transformer. He sidestepped easily, and grabbed the dragon by the tail, then giving a harsh yank, which caused her to fall from the air and land face down. "….Ow…."

"I think I also know the answer. You can't." He stated flatly, looking placidly at the grounded dragon before him. "Now try again."

Giving no thought to her next move, she flicked her tail to the side, knocking Scavenger off his feet. With a thud and a grunt, he was on his back, and within seconds, Caitlin had him pinned beneath her, her dragon mouth half open and glowing with red-hot embers. "Is that good enough for you?" She said calmly, not breaking optic contact with him.

"No." He answered just as calmly, as he brought his knee upward and rammed it right into her unguarded midsection. With a gasp, she went limp for a second, which gave the larger Transformer time to shove her off and into a wall. She landed on her dragonlike rear, and winced sorely.

"No fair…."

"You need to drop that attitude, Caitlin," He told her sternly. "Because real combat ISN'T fair. Now get up and try again."

She didn't like this side of the former mercenary. With her Dragon form softly scowling, she got to her feet, and opened her wings once more, preparing to attack again. With little more than a battle cry, she launched herself at the mech. "TAKE THIS!" She raked her claws forward, and suddenly noticed that they were glowing! Scavenger caught this as well, and tried to dodge. But he couldn't move his large frame fast enough, and felt the red-hot claws cut several deep gashes into the left half of his chest armor. 

Grunting from the bit of pain he felt, he swayed, but then lashed out at Caitlin hard, his fist connecting with her midsection once more. She rocked back, and was sent to the wall once more. "Hmm. Not bad. But you're nowhere near your full potential."

The femme transformed back into her normal mode, but scowled again at his criticism. Expecting him to tell her to get up again, he muttered, "That's all for now. Rest a bit and practice. Hopefully then I won't humiliate you TOO badly…" He turned and walked out of the training hall quietly, leaving Caitlin with her thoughts of the little defeat…. 

Later…

Hotshot hefted a large metal box up onto a shelf, with the help of Scavenger and Optimus, while RedAlert was typing away at a computer console. "Hey Optimus… why are Jetfire and Caitlin doing all of those chores? I thought that was my job…"

"Well it seems that instead of bringing their misdemeanor out into the open, I'd rather just have them work their punishment off…"

Windracer had walked past the open door, and had caught ear of the last statement from her commander.

"Punishment? ….ohhhhh, you mean those pranks!"

Scavenger shot Hotshot a glare at the remembrance of the humiliating bubble encounter. "What pranks?"

"You mean you didn't know that Jetfire and Caitlin were the ones that pulled the tar and feather and the bubble pranks?"

Optimus' spark stopped for a moment. "You… heard… that…?"

Caitlin stopped cold. 'HOW THE HECK DOES HE KNOW?!' she thought to herself.

RedAlert was now interested. "…So you're saying that they framed you for those pranks?"

The yellow mech nodded. "Yup. AND they were the ones that stuck the ink in my Energon a while back…"

'Ohhhhh boy, THIS ISN'T GOOD!' she turned on a dime and made a beeline for Jetfire's quarters. Quickly, she burst into the V.C's room, resulting in the said mech falling from his chair in surprise. "JETFIREJETFIREJETFIRE!!!! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!"

"What, WHAT?!"

"Red and Scavey FOUND OUT!"

"Found out?! What are you…" He stopped cold. "Oh…no… not about…"

She nodded vigorously. "Exactly, but HOTSHOT told them!"

"He was eavesdropping probably… oohhhh but this really really _really_ ain't good…"

"No kidding! I have a training session with Mr. Personality in a few hours!"

"Nah, he wouldn't try anything… That'd be too obvious. He'll try something when you least expect it…"

"…He's that big a threat?"

Jetfire sighed. "You and I are great pranksters, no doubt about it, but RedAlert and Scavenger… when they were young… Primus above, they were the KINGS of practical jokes!"

"So we're THAT doomed?"

"Well they won't hurt us… not physically anyways… but they'll more than likely humiliate us… ten TIMES worse than what we did to them…"  
            "Or a lot of very humiliating ones… But what about RedAlert??"

"Don't even get me started… Lets just hope that neither of us end up in the medbay for ANY sort of reason whatsoever…" Jetfire told her grimly.

"Liiiiiiiike, what would he do, switch our voice boxes out for someone else's or something…?"

"'T wouldn't surprise me in the least… we just gotta keep our guards up and watch each others' backs."

"You got it." She then sighed, as she checked her internal clock. "Dang, I'm gonna go practice some battle tactics… Maybe this time Scavenger won't TOTALLY kill me…."

Jetfire chuckled. "Ah, don't sweat it. But panic if he starts to go easy on ya…"

"Thanks. I think…"

"Well go already, I get the feeling Prime's gonna come in here and tell me about Hotshot's overactive mouth… And I'm gonna think up some good counter-pranks a' my own…"

"You're turning this into a freaking war…"

"….so???"

She sighed. "Nevermind. I'll see ya later."

"Later!"

And with that, the Dragon Transformer headed to the training room, and got ready to begin her lesson…

TBC

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*quoting Yoda* Begun, the prank war has… DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!! 


	9. It Begins!

DMK: Whoo, This is the most reviews I've had… EVER… O_O'' thanks a bunch for reviewing, I feel WAAAAAY too loved… anyways, I got da paring… :D any CORRECT guesses (MINUS those who already know… you know who you are…)  will be rewarded with an honorable mention in da next chappie… :D okay, not much but hey! Umm…. Yeah… but he's NOT an Autobot…

Hotshot: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HOOKING HIM UP!! WHAT ABOUT ME?!

DMK: …can't take a little rivalry with a 'Con?

Hotshot: No. *boots her off the author's notes section* NOW GO READ!! …that was probably too big of a hint as it is….

*********

Chapter 9

            It was late at night, long after yet another one-sided training session between Scavenger and Caitlin. The loud footfalls of the former mercenary echoed along a corridor, when RedAlert came across him. He noticed that he had two large canisters, one over each shoulder.

            "Scavenger… may I ask just WHAT are those?" The medic asked, staring at the large canisters.

            "Oh, these?" He grinned evilly. "Why these are containers of that Terran gas, Helium… You know the affects on a HUMAN'S vocal cords, I'm just a little curious as to how it would react with a Transformers'…"

            RedAlert caught on, grinning malevolently. "Tell me what to do and I'll gladly assist."

The next morning…

            Jetfire sat up, after his long recharge. He felt strange, but then again, he woke up feeling strange many times… He stretched his arms, and emitted a yawn..

            A very squeaky yawn.

            "AGH!" he brought a hand to his throat. HE SOUNDED LIKE A CHIPMUNK!! "SCAVENGER! REDALERT! YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!" A very high-pitched shout rang throughout the whole base. 

            The two, who were already awake and waiting for this, burst into loud and raucous laughter. Growling in a high-pitched voice, Jetfire barreled out of his quarters, fuming. He came across RedAlert, who was blocking his way.

            "You… are one DEAD Autobot…" he squeaked, but hardly sounded serious with his high voice.

            "My, Jetfire, that doesn't sound good, perhaps you shouldn't inhale HELIUM like that…" The medic said smugly, holding up an empty canister of the gas. Over his shoulder, he saw Scavenger, who also had an empty container. 

            Jetfire nearly blew a gasket. "WHY YOU!!!"

            That's when the rest of the Autobot team reached the source of the scream, which was the helium-influenced Vice Commander. They heard the V.C's voice, and there was nothing but silence.

            For about five seconds. Explosively, starting with Hotshot, then Sideswipe, followed by Smokescreen, Blurr, and Optimus, they all bust out into laughter. Even Caitlin bit her lip to stop from laughing at her ailing prank partner. 

            Jetfire grabbed RedAlert by the neck armor, and hissed (higher so because of the helium), "Get rid of this, NOW."

            Calmly, RedAlert forced himself out of the hold, and then grinned. "I'm sorry, there ISN'T a way to 'get rid of it'… You'll just have to let it disperse on its own."

            "And how long will that take???" Caitlin questioned, sparing her friend the humiliation of speaking in that high-pitched voice again.

            "Four hours."

            Jetfire looked ready to cry. "FOUR HOURS?!" He shrieked in a voice high enough to probably shatter glass, getting the other members of his team to crack up once again.

            "That's what I said. Four Earth hours until your voice returns to normal." The Medic retorted coolly, Scavenger about ready to keel over from his suppressed laughter behind him. 

            Moaning like a chipmunk, Jetfire hung his head and stomped past his giggling teammates, who were doing their best to not laugh. Once they thought he was gone, the noise level exploded, Hotshot and Sideswipe on their backs, Scavenger doubled over, Blurr holding his chest as he leaned up against the wall.

            Jetfire's head snapped around the bend in the hall again. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" He tried to shout, but this just caused more laughter on his teammates' part. Even Caitlin had to laugh…

            Fuming still, he left, his loud stomps audible over the laughter…

Four hours later…

            Jetfire hummed happily in his normal voice. "Oh yeah, no more chipmunk voice for me!"

            "AHHHHHHGH!"

            Jets sat bolt upright. "WHAT THE F*CK?!"

            Five minutes later, a loud thump was heard as his door was thrown open. The white mech turned to see the blue-green femme, but she wasn't blue-green anymore. 

            "Let me guess… they got you now too?"

            She nodded silently, drops of rainbow paint falling from her brow. "Oh. Yeah. Regular riot act back in the command center right now…"

            "Blech, glad Scavenger doesn't like to use messy pranks…"

            "Oh sure, and I suppose sounding like a metal chipmunk is LOADS better…"

            "I swear to PRIMUS that I'm gonna strangle the both of 'em…"

            "I would too, but I'm just gonna get even…" She grinned evilly. 

            "Oh? Do tell…"

            "…Granted, I used this on my old Science Lab teacher, but it still took him a month to clean up…"

            He caught on. "Okay, sure, but where would you find THAT kinda junk?"

            "Umm… probably an old food processing factory has tons of it… I know a few around here…"

            "Ya think Prime would let you go?"

            "Come on, he saw how he messed me up." She motioned to herself. Upon closer inspection, Jetfire noticed all manner of things stuck to the paint: feathers, glass, sand, confetti, you name it, it was there. She was a mess.

            "…And me… eugh, I can't BELIEVE they did that…"

            "Though it WAS amusing…"

            "Don't get started on me. Just go talk to Optimus and see if it's alright. If it is, all the more power to ya."

            "Thanks… I'll remember that!" In a flash, she was gone, and after cleaning all of the dried paint off of her metal frame, (though her knees joints couldn't stop grinding from some leftover sand and glass), she was off and negotiating with her commander. He knew it would lead to more trouble, but ignoring his logic circuits, he let her go. 

Some Abandoned Factory…

            So WHY are we doing this? Her partner, Sideswipe, who was still with her, asked, looking around the dark and dusty building.   

            "Simple: to get even. You saw what I looked like!"

            Her friend stifled a laugh. Don't remind me… I might pull a circuit if I laugh again…

            "Har har har… Now let's just get the stuff and get out of here before any humans see us…"

            I second that!

            After only a few minutes of searching, they found their prize. And within a few more minutes, they had collected an excess of it, and had warped back to the base…

TBC

*******

DMK: EEP! I just re-read chapter 8… I RUINED THE SURPRISE ABOUT HER NAME DURNIT! :[ 

Caitlin: OH GREAT, SO YOU GO AND TELL EVERYONE MY NAME IS WINDRACER?!

DMK: …so did you… *points to previous line*…

Caitlin: …Oh… ^^'' whoops… Blonde moment. 

DMK: a note on that… you won't see the name until the very end, when she picks it out for herself. That was just a typo… Argh… oh, and Flamestrike… I got like, half da sequel up already… Hell, I'll be done with that before I'm done with the real story… -_ oh well. Now that I've ruined one of the surprises, I'll leave…


	10. Avalanche!

DMK: YESSSSS! MORE REVIEWS! :D *ahem* Anyway, Nobody's guessed da paring right… Shade, ya might have gotten it if you'd only said it… :D Mwah. It won't surface for a while still… or I might scrap it altogether… ___'' Depends… yeah… anyway, now time for more carnage??? O.o

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Chapter 10

            Caitlin had finished setting up her prank long ago, and decided to… 'nudge' it along… Then again, she DID need to get her knee and elbow joints unclogged from the glass and sand. Wincing, she stepped into the medbay, one shard of glass starting to cut into a musclecable. When the door closed with a small 'clank' RedAlert turned and took note of her.

            "Well well, look who it is…" He said, grinning in a friendly tone.

            "Yeesh, Aurora taught you nothing, did she?"

            "…Yes she did… how to pull marvelous jokes such as that one."

            "Yeah, well, your 'prank' is cutting into my knee right now…"

            He dropped a bit of his smug attitude. "Ah. Well sit down and I'll get a scalpel or two out…"

            "…Okay." Once he had turned around, Caitlin's lips suddenly twisted into a grin.

            A very evil grin. 

            About five minutes before, she paged Jetfire through her comm. system, and only seconds before the prank showed its face, he walked in. 

            Only to see RedAlert disappear in an avalanche of pinto beans. "AGH!"

            "AHAHAHAHAHA!" Caitlin doubled over, clutching at her midsection, laughing at her friend's predicament. "Score: RedAlert-1, Caitlin-2!! AHAHAHAHA!"

            Slowly, the medic heaved himself out of the several tons of tan and brown beans, his ruby red optics hinting at his furious mood. 

            Jetfire was on the floor, laughing also. "Oh, oh, oh! MY ACHING CHASSIS! Ah-HAHAHAHAHA!"

            Red tried to stand, but slipped on the beans, landing back in the pile with a splash of tan, which resulted in another fit of laughter. "When I get my hands on you…" he growled, trying to stand again. "I swear I'll-AGH!"

            With another slip, RedAlert was back in the beans. Spluttering, a few were spat from his mouth. Caitlin tried to calm herself, but failed. As a result from the noise, about half of the Autobot team entered the medbay, and saw the poor, unbalanced medic.

            Hotshot stared. "PINTO BEANS?! …Hehehehehahahaha! DUDE! GREAT!"

            Optimus sighed and shook his head, grinning under his facemask. As much as he hated to admit it, he did enjoy this whole prank battle… just so long as he wasn't caught in the middle of it, anyways. 

            Scavenger also shook his head. Knowing the cycle, he would be the next target. Of what sort of prank, it was unknown, but he knew he was next. He would just have to keep his guard up, that's all.

            "Hooo…" Caitlin had finally calmed herself down, and was now trying to catch her breath, along with Hotshot and Jetfire. "Dang, that one never really gets old…"

            RedAlert scowled, utterly defeated this round. He no longer tried to stand, for it would just lead to one humiliating fall after another. "Aw come on!" Cait chided, sitting up straight on the recharge gurney. "You can sure dish out pranks, but ya can't handle taking them…" She got up, kicking the stray tan beans aside, and then grabbed one of RedAlert's arms. Pulling hard, she managed to get the medic up, who wobbled uncertainly for a second and then balanced himself. He strongly resisted the urge to pick her up and toss her into the stockpile of beans, but didn't. 

            "So uhh… who's cleanin' this up?" Hotshot asked, playing with a few pinto beans with the tip of his foot.

            Optimus looked seriously at Jetfire and Caitlin. "AW MAN!" they echoed, hanging their heads. 

            "I'm sorry, but that IS the price to pay…" He explained, shaking his head. 

            "B-but… YOU LET ME DO THIS!" The femme protested, turning on Optimus. 

            "Yes, but I never said that you wouldn't have to clean up the mess afterwards…"

            "Argh. Fine. Then after that could I PLEASE get the glass out of my knee joint?"

            "I… suppose that should be first, actually…" Prime said, looking to RedAlert questioningly.

            "Oh all it is, is cleaning! I'll be fine for the few hours, honestly!"

            Scavenger shook his head. "Hotshot, help me tie her down so we can fix her knee."

            "OH NO YOU DON'T!" she defended, stepping back on her bad knee, getting sparks to fly. "…Ow…" She tried moving it again, but it was offline. "Uhh… my knee isn't, like, moving… Is that bad…?"

            RedAlert smacked his forehead. "Primus Above, WHY ME… Yes, that isn't a good sign. And seeing as how you can't move…"

            Scavenger took the cue and stepped forward, grabbing the short femme around the waist and hefting her over his shoulder. "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING?! PUT ME DOWN!" She protested, trying her best to escape from the much larger and much stronger mech.

            "I don't think so," he said calmly, not moving so much as an inch. He then set her on the same gurney she had originally been on, and stepped back (probably before she could have a chance to plant her foot into his midsection again…). "Now was that so hard?"

            "Humiliating, but not hard…" she grumbled, sitting upright. 

            He shook his head, and then addressed RedAlert. "Well, there's your patient… I suggest you get to work so that she can clean all of this up…"

            "Okay okay, lets all laugh at the poor chick WHO CAN'T FREAKING WALK!" she then noticed the tools he had in his hands. "…This… Isn't gonna hurt… is it?"

            The medic couldn't help but grin evilly. "Unfortunately, I can't find the painkiller under all of those pinto beans…"

            "OH HELL!" She whined, cradling her knee to her chest. "YOU AREN'T TOUCHING MY LEG WITHOUT THAT!"

            Scavenger exchanged looks with Hotshot, and the two each took an arm. Suddenly the joke was over, and real fear gripped her. "PLEASE DON'T!"

            "Oh please don't whine- if you're ever going to be a successful warrior you'll need to learn how to handle pain." Scavenger told her sternly. "Now quit panicking and calm down."

            Sighing, she loosened up, and no longer fought against them. "Fine. Just GET IT OVER WITH…"

            As much as Optimus wanted to actually stick around and watch this unfold, he grabbed Jetfire and led him out of the medbay. Meanwhile, Caitlin looked anxiously at the laser pliers that were being held rather steady by RedAlert, which was making its way to her knee. 

            "Hmm…" he began, looking at the sparking joint inquisitively. Taking his free hand, he poked at the injury. "Does this hurt?"

            "AGH! OW! YES IT DOES HURT!"

            He recoiled from the outburst slightly, and both Scavenger and Hotshot instinctively tightened their grip on her arms. "Hmm, a good sign, then…" Red again pulled out the pliers, and dipped them into the opening of the knee joint, but wasn't looking into it, for there was no way he really could… It was far too narrow. It reminded the former human of that game 'Operation'… where one wrong move resulted in a loud 'buzz!'. The medic suddenly jabbed the tool into the joint, and the femme yelped; he had found the glass. Delicately maneuvering the device, he clamped down onto it, and then began to remove it.

            "OWOWOW! DUDE!" She tried to jerk away, but RedAlert, out of sheer instinct, put his hand on her lower leg, holding it still.

            "Will you stop?! I'm almost done," He told her calmly, not focusing on her throes.

            "WELL THIS HURTS, DAMNIT!" She shouted hotly, trying to move. However, the three mechs' grip on her was too strong, and she could get nowhere. With one last jerk, the shard of blue glass was removed from the joint, and sparks flew one more time. "Dangit. Not. Cool. Seriously."

            "Was it honestly THAT bad?" The medic said, standing above her. 

            "You try getting a piece of glass yanked out of your knee…"

            "I have. Several times." He told her placidly. 

            "Okay, I have a nonexistent pain threshold, so sue me."

            He shrugged off the little comment and went back to his business. "Now it'll take a day for your musclecable to regenerate, but at least now you can move it."

            "…Enough to clean up my  prank, right?" 

            "…Not really. I'll do it. Just don't tell Optimus."

            "Okay, now you're being nice… What do you want?"

            "Relax. I'm not going to pull anything right now, so quit being paranoid."

            She sighed. "Fine. But if you so much as TRY anything, I'm not gonna trust you for a loooooooong time."

            He chuckled. "Deal. Now keep off of it and try not to hurt yourself again."

            "…You sure you don't want help? Prime DID tell me to do it…"

            "Consider it restitution for my little prank… I had no intention of really hurting you." 

            "…Okay… I guess that works for me." She slid off the gurney, and landed on her feet shakily, Hotshot and Scavenger no longer holding her down. 

            The yellow mech grinned. "You're not gonna get to your room like that." He said rather confidently.

            "Of course I will. You watch."

            He, Scavenger, and RedAlert all exchanged glances and shook their heads. "You're no better than I was back when I was your age," Red sighed. 

            She sighed too, and started to walk. She got three steps before her knee activated a safety protocol, and stopped moving. "This is REALLY not my day…"

            Hotshot shrugged. "I hate to say I told you so-"

            "But you didn't." With little more than a thought, she transformed, and flew out of the medbay in her dragon body.

            "That girl needs a LOT of discipline…" Scavenger trailed off, shaking his head again. 

            "She'll learn. One of these days she'll wise up. Until then we'll just have to try and get her to settle down and straighten up, friend or not." The medic told them both, turning to the mess of scattered pinto beans across the medical bay floor. "…And get even."

            Scavenger's goldenrod optics glinted with malice. "A counter, so soon?"

            "Well, I'll wait until she's recovered, but yes, I have a marvelous counter prank."

            Hotshot looked back and forth at the two. "Oooh! Tell, tell, tell!!!"

            The elder mechs stared at him. If it was anyone's fault for starting this 'war', it was Hotshot. He HAD been the eavesdropper who stated the truth, after all… "You'll see… when the time is right, anyway." Red told him evilly, playing out the joke in his head. This would be the final prank, the one that would cause their 'foes' to surrender, and give them the 'victory'… or so he thought.

TBC

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DMK: …okay… umm, hope ya liked it? Review please?

Hotshot: *ahem* the preview?

DMK: …well… I dunno whether this is funny or just strange, so if you figure out RedAlert's and Scavenger's gag, tell me if I should go along with it… if not, then I'm sure I could come up with something…… _"…When Caitlin awoke, she instantly felt strange. Sitting up and looking around quickly, she realized that this wasn't her room._

That's when she saw her feet…But they weren't HER feet… 

_'AAAAAAAAAAH!'…"_ …any right guesses as to what happened result in… a cookie? Yeah, a cookie… Um… me go now… ^_^'' ENJOY!


	11. Kiwi!

DMK: Yeesh, so little reviews for chappie nine… *sniffle* …I see how it is… 

Hotshot: Aw shut up ya big baby. *threatens DMK with his fist* 

DMK: You're evil too, you know… Fine. I'll go work on Heavy Metal War: Future Century. Methinks you don't need to be in it…

Hotshot: YOU CAN'T KILL ME!

Schwartz: *appears in Gundam* but I can… :D

Hotshot: AAAAAAH! *runs away*

DMK: there… now enjoy! And I am SERIOUSLY running out of pranks and jokes, so a BIIIIG thanks to Choctaw for giving me this idea… :D 

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Chapter 11

          Jetfire sat in his quarters after the little pinto bean incident, thinking. He had to come up with something that would avenge his little run-in with helium… But what? The 'Kick Me' sign was hilarious, but old. That joke had been around for a millennia or three, well before the humans had come up with it. Then there was the silly 'Shaving-cream-on-the-face-and-tickle-them-until-they-smack-themselves-and-get-it-all-over-their-face', but that was far too messy, and Scavenger was known to be a light sleeper when he was on guard. He COULD superheat some molasses so that it would take the consistency of water, and fill the water tank with it, so that if and when the mercenary needed to clean himself off (usually after recovering a Minicon these days… it was fall, and so the rain was plentiful), it would cool to the point that he would stick to anything and everything. Eventually he'd get to the point that he would be near immobile. Not very funny, but about as annoying as the pinto bean prank his friend had just pulled… Or not. Hmm, he was running out of jokes…

          "Maybe I should ask for her help… Naw, come on Jets! You're the Vice Commander! Ya have enough daring and cunning for THREE Autobots… THEN WHY THE HELL CAN'T I THINK OF A GOOD JOKE?! AAAARRRRGH!!!" Then, something hit him. "Messy as molasses, but a lot more hilarious…" he chuckled a bit evilly. Quickly, he set off to set his joke up.

Later…

          Scavenger looked around suspiciously. It was quiet.

          Too quiet.

          Watching every step he made with the utmost care, he made his way to his quarters. His door slid open, and he jumped backwards. Nothing happened. Peering around, he saw no tripwire, just his loose floor tile, and the shadows. He stepped in before it hit him. "Wait, I DON'T HAVE A LOOSE FLOOR TILE!"

          He tried to stop his weight from shifting onto it, but it was too late. It slid down into its original position, and he felt the small button underneath him activate…

          SPLAT!

          "AAAAAGH! JETFIIIIIIIIIIIRE!"

          Hearing this at the opposite end of the base, he burst out laughing at the top of his oxygen filters. "Woohahahahahaha! THE MASTA' IS BACK!" Grinning smugly, he headed over to see his 'friend'. When he got there, both RedAlert and Caitlin had beaten him to the punch, and were staring, open-mouthed, at the mercenary, who was covered nearly head-to-toe in brown, thick…

          Pudding?!

          "Oh…my…lord…" Caitlin struggled to keep her composure. He looked like a huge brown snowman! "AHAHA! Genius, Jets!" She cajoled as she high-fived him. "HE LOOKS LIKE THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHOCOLATE-COVERED KIWI!!! AHAHAH! 

          "Aw, that was nothing… Just wait until I really get cooking… eh, no pun intended…"

          Scavenger was fuming. "I swear to Primus above that I'm going to reformat the both of you…" He threatened in his deep, cold voice, but was greeted by more laughing.

          "What's wrong, Kiwi?" Caitlin mocked, slapping her knee as she laughed again. "Buck up!"

He growled softly and glared at her with a look to kill, and uttered. "You will PAY for this…" Then, he turned eerily calm, and trudged away from the group as best he could, being half immobilized by the goo. 

          "Oh boy, that was good… a bit on the strange side, but good… And hey! I got a new nickname for him, too!" 

          RedAlert shook his head, leaving the two to gloat about their victory. He had to get on that new prank of his…

Later…

          Scavenger stomped into the medbay after cleaning himself off. He was still sore as hell from the humiliation, and was going to talk to RedAlert about their revenge…

          "So RedAlert, have you thought of that prank yet?" He asked albeit unhappily.

          "Yes, actually, I have…" he responded, as if nothing had happened to his comrade earlier that day, removing several tools from a now-clean drawer. He walked over to the mercenary, and handed him an identical pair of the tools. "Now I think you know what I'm getting at…"

          He grinned, but then realized something. "…But would Optimus approve? What if a mission arises?"

          "That would be their problem… I'm sure it wouldn't be too serious."

          "Well then, by all means let's do this…"

          RedAlert grinned as well. "You handle Jetfire, I'll take Caitlin… Longarm and Rollbar would more than likely assist…"

          He nodded. "Tonight. Midnight?"

          "Of course. Now I'm sure you know how to use that…"

          Scavenger seemed a little offended. "I'm not all fight, you know… I am knowledgeable in a bit of medicine…"

          "Ah. Well then get ready. This will be the one to end it…" Red told him. 'I hope…'

TBC

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DMK: Junkie Chapter, I know, but it's mainly a filler… the hint from the LAST chapter applies to the next one, But as for the ones who guessed  it… Tim, you were close, but Cobalt got it… mwahaha…! :D anyways, Ashana liked it… and so did a friend of mine at school, so yeah… Review and the end of the prank war arc will show itself… so enjoy! AND PLLEEEEEAAASE REVIEW!!!!!


	12. Freaky Friday!

DMK: Hmm…methinks I'm getting less and less reviews… me no likey dat… :P  
  


Hotshot: Oh, suck it up and get on with the story.   
  
DMK: ……fine. ____'' here's the next chapter… and it'll hint at the pairing as well…if you catch it, ya can always tell me in a review… umm… this took me quite a while, so enjoy, and please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE review! OR NO MORE!   
  
Wheeljack: YEAH!   
  
DMK: …where did you come from?   
  
Wheeljack: …uhh… Random plot hole?   
  
DMK: ……………Works for me. Alright, NOW we can move on…   
  
  
  
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Chapter 12   
  
  
  
RedAlert snuck into Caitlin's quarters without a sound, Longarm not too far behind. The femme in question was sound asleep, and deeply at that.   
  
"Perfect."   
  
Moving closer, he touched the side of her helmet, activating a hidden switch of some sort. With a hiss, her head armor parted, exposing the mainframe within.   
  
Longarm looked around nervously. W-what if someone catches us??? She might wake up, you know… He said to his partner with caution.   
  
"It wouldn't be possible," He answered back calmly. "I've designed her system to automatically switch into stasis lock if any of her vital systems are ever exposed… A fail-safe, if you will…"   
  
Oookay… But this is still a bit overboard.   
  
"Nonsense. It will be quite a laugh come tomorrow morning." RedAlert had removed something from within the femme's main nervous center, and looked to Longarm, who transformed and let the medic load it onto him. The Minicon waited as he then moved to her throat area, and took something else as well, and also placed it on Longarm's small flatbed.   
  
Fine, fine. Now can I PLEASE go?!  
  
"Yes, now let's get going. Rollbar's more than likely on his way here."   
  
With that, he zipped out of the room, mindful of the CPU and voice modulator he was carrying.   
  
  
  
MEANWHILE…   
  
  
  
Scavenger was in Jetfire's room, doing much the same thing as RedAlert. Working carefully, he removed a similar device from Jetfire's mainframe, and then took a small box from his throat.   
  
Hehe, you guys are just plain evil, Rollbar commented as the two things were placed on his passenger seats.   
  
"No, we just enjoy sweet revenge…"   
  
Same difference. But uhh… This WON'T get traced back to me, will it?   
  
"No, I don't think so. Now hurry up, we don't have much time before his recharge cycle ends."   
  
Yeesh, pu-shy. I was already on my way out… He muttered, picking up speed in his dune buggy alt. Halfway through the base, he passed Longarm, who was toting the same two things. Soon, they had reached their destinations, and the prank was set. Come the morning, it was going to be a 'Freaky Friday' at the Autobot Base…   
  
  
  
The next morning…   
  
  
  
When Caitlin woke up, she instantly felt strange. She sat up quickly, and looked around… this WASN'T her room.   
  
That's when she saw her feet…   
  
"AHHHHHHHH!"   
  
Seconds later, another scream joined hers. "AHHHHHHHH!"   
  
From their own rooms, Scavenger and RedAlert heard this, and promptly fell out of their recharge beds, laughing insanely. That was exactly what they had wanted. Struggling for air, the two managed to stand up and head for their victims.   
  
Jetfire, mad as Hades, tore out of 'his' room, and ran smack into Scavenger. "Why hello," He chuckled evilly. "…Caitlin."   
  
"You!" Jetfire, who was in his friend's body, with his own voice, pointed a finger accusingly. "You did this!"   
  
Scavey grinned malevolently. "I DID get help from RedAlert…"   
  
"ARRRRRRGH!!! CHANGE ME BACK, NOW!"   
  
"Why?" The mercenary retorted coolly. "This is just SO entertaining…"   
  
  
  
MEANWHILE…   
  
  
  
Caitlin, madder than a hornet, stomped into the path of the Autobot medic, Jetfire's body's huge frame adding to her furious appearance.   
  
"Yes?" Red began casually. "What can I do for you, Jetfire, or should I really say, Caitlin?"   
  
"You sir, are evil," She growled.   
  
"And your point would be…?"   
  
"DANGIT, CHANGE ME BACK! Who knows what Jetfire might do in my body!"   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" The medic was still quite calm.   
  
She smacked her forehead in heated exasperation. "Nevermind. I'm the only one around here who's mind is perpetually in the gutter…"   
  
He understood. "I highly doubt he'd take… 'advantage'… of this situation, if that's what you mean," He answered, still placid and smug.   
  
She stopped her plea. "…You're enjoying this, aren't you?"   
  
He brought his face dangerously close to hers, optics flashing with malice. "Every. Second of it. And I really don't plan on ending my fun anytime soon…"   
  
She reared back. "Jebus Cripes you're a VERY evil bot, you know that?!"   
  
He didn't so much as flinch from the outburst. "So I've been told."   
  
"Aw come on… PLEASE change us back! What if a Minicon shows up? What if the Decepticons attack and we need Jet Convoy?!"   
  
"…That…" He began. "…Is your problem."   
  
"For the love of everything sane and normal, PLEASE?!"   
  
"…I will… Eventually."   
  
"Now this is just plain wrong! Come on-!!"   
  
That moment, to Caitlin's stupor, Optimus' voice came over the P.A: "All Autobots are to report to the Command Center for a mission briefing, repeat, all Autobots must report to the Command Center."   
  
Cait looked to RedAlert, as if asking, 'WHY ME?!?!', and the medic responded with a simple, yet smug grin.   
  
"Well you heard him. Move out." His voice practically dripped with self-satisfaction.   
  
"Ohhhh, you are a very very dead bot…" She threatened darkly, turning and heading for the command center. Just as she was about to enter the door, she came face-to-face with her own body, Jetfire inhabiting it. The both of them exchanged looks that could kill even Unicron, if possible. Then the two entered the room, falling in line with their teammates and waiting for Optimus' briefing.   
  
"Alright soldiers, there's been an active Minicon sighted in the Grand Canyon, and obviously the Decepticons will have picked up on this signal… Also…" He looked at all of his comrades with scrutiny. "I'm curious as to what all that noise was this morning…"   
  
Jetfire and Caitlin just about hit the floor. _'First I die, then I get hit on by a freaking Decepticon, Cyclonus no less, THEN trained by Mr. Personality, THEN THROWN INTO JETFIRE'S BODY! WHEN WILL MY TORMENT END?!' __  
_  
Scavenger answered, looking over at the two pranked-on 'Formers. "I believe those two would know the answer to that…"   
  
All optics shifted to the said Transformers, who didn't exchange a word, and shrugged. But the damage had been done. Optimus picked up on the uncomfortable silence, and turned serious. "Caitlin… Jetfire… What is going on here?" He brought his optics to Cait, whom he believed was Jetfire, but she had no idea whether to speak or stay silent. That's when the real space shuttle Transformer stepped forward.   
  
"Ehh… Scavenger and RedAlert decided to get even with us again, sir…"   
  
Hotshot stared, looking at the femme body, who now had the poise and voice of the Vice Commander. "J-Jetfire?! Is that you?!"   
  
He nodded with disdain, the expression on his face betraying his incredibly sour mood. "CPU switching."   
  
The reaction was instantaneous. Every single Transformer present (other than the two swapped bots) –including Optimus- burst out into peals of laughter, while Jetfire and Caitlin stood and took the ridicule.   
  
Just when the poor human-turned-Transformer thought it would never end, Optimus broke in above the loud laughter. "Alright, alright men, that's enough," He managed between chuckles. "Let's get ready to move out."   
  
The rest of the team started to leave, most of them still giggling and chortling under their breaths. As she walked out, Caitlin noticed RedAlert, who's lips were curled into an almost sinister grin. At that moment, she heavily resisted the urge to jump at his throat. Scowling, she warped to the rocky canyon that the Minicon had been detected in.   
  
Which, conveniently enough, was about seventy feet up. Too high for anyone to climb, but not too high for a flyer. 'Oh. Joy.' Caitlin thought to herself. 'I can see this coming…'   
  
"Hmm," Scavenger began, the satisfaction in his voice loud and clear. "Perhaps we need the assistance of Jet Convoy…" He suggested to Optimus, winking a goldenrod optic at him.   
  
Prime caught on quickly enough, and nodded. "I think you're right… My apologies, Caitlin, but we need to powerlink…"   
  
_'I. Hate. My life.' _  
  
"I uhh… don't know how?" She protested weakly, shrugging innocently.   
  
Optimus was about to explain how, when a laser missile passed only inches above their heads, and exploded on a nearby rock with a loud 'bang!'.   
  
"Forget it and scramble! The 'Cons are here!" Hotshot interrupted as he took cover behind another stone.   
  
Looking up, Cait noticed that the Decepticons were lining the left side of the canyon, with Starscream, Cyclonus, and Thrust circling above like vultures.   
  
"Okay, first time was a joke, but now we NEED Jet Convoy!" Hotshot said to Caitlin over the din of the laser fire.   
  
Swallowing her pride, she looked over to Optimus. "Tell me what to do and I'm there!"   
  
"Just focus on becoming Jet Convoy when you give the command! Are you ready?"   
  
She inhaled quickly. "As ready as I'll ever be!"   
  
"Then let's go! TRANSFORM AND COMBINE!" Optimus exclaimed as he leaped into the air, his foot-mounted thrusters lifting him high.   
  
"TRANSFORM AND COMBINE!" She answered back, tossing her shield onto Prime's back, followed by the plasma blaster, which rocketed him further into the air. With one swift movement, Optimus became the upper torso, while in another smooth motion, Caitlin felt herself transform into the lower half of Jet Convoy. In a small shower of sparks, the two combined. If she could have, she would have jumped by the sudden surge of power that followed. It was like an explosion! Then she felt something else…   
  
Like she wasn't alone.   
  
Woah… this… is freaky… She thought in her mind.   
  
Heh-heh, it takes a bit of getting used to, I know. A voice told her. It was Optimus.   
  
GAH! Optimus?! You read my mind!!   
  
We're sharing a mind, of course I can, He responded calmly.   
  
Oh. Umm, then I guess I shouldn't think about anything personal…   
  
Yes… I learned that the hard way. Jetfire has quite a bit of blackmail on me…   
  
Yeesh…thanks for the info… She trailed off, wondering about what kind of things Optimus thought about that were blackmail-worthy.   
  
Shall we get started then?   
  
Caitlin had almost forgotten about the task at hand. Yes, lets!   
  
With a sudden slam of the vernier engines, Jet Convoy took off towards the mouth of the canyon. As they advanced on their attackers, a missile headed right at them. Caitlin feared that they would disagree on which way to go, but they obviously agreed on diving down for a moment.   
  
Wow… and here I was thinking we'd fight over which way we fly…   
  
Optimus told her. When we're like this, we think as one.   
  
Ohhhhh… Cool. Well let's toast Megs and get outta here!   
  
Well said!  
  
"Decepticons! Shoot that annoying oversized bottle rocket out of the sky!" Megatron boomed over the noise.   
  
Just as they were about to attack the Decepticon leader, Caitlin took note of Cyclonus, who was eyeing her real body with something comparable to heavy desire.   
  
In a fit of flustered anger, Caitlin's will suddenly overpowered the shared mind, brushing Optimus' conscience aside long enough for her to aim and shoot down the drooling helicopter. With a satisfying 'bang' and several shouted obscenities, Cyclonus found himself eating dirt. But as quickly as she had taken control, Caitlin was back in the shared state of mind, and she could tell Optimus seemed a bit taken aback.   
  
She apologized in her mind albeit sheepishly as they worked on taking down Starscream.   
  
Optimus took note of Cyclonus, who had hardly moved. …Perhaps I should let you take over more often…   
  
Naw, that was dumb luck. Let's just kick their metal booties back to the moon.   
  
Gladly!   
  
With cover from their fellow Teammates (Jetfire had started to get the hang of Caitlin's dragon form), the fused Transformers picked off 'Con after 'Con, until one of the only ones left was Megatron, who was busy cursing out his 'incompetent' soldiers.   
  
"This Minicon will NOT be used for your evil purposes!" Optimus' voice rang out. "So hit the road!" Caitlin couldn't help but add.   
  
"HA! You're empty threats mean NOTHING to me, Prime! This battle is FAR from over!" Megatron retorted, firing round after round from his tank turret.   
  
The fused bots dodged easily, barely taking damage as they advanced on Meggy. But, they overlooked the sole Decepticon who managed to get to his feet. Struggling, the shadowed form pulled something out of his subspace pocket, and hurled it at the backside of Jet Convoy.   
  
"AHH!" The two shouted in unison, losing altitude for a moment, then quickly regaining it. Turning around, they saw Wheeljack, who had a look of sadistic triumph on his face.   
  
Note to self: Bash his head in when back in real body, She muttered, almost forgetting her mental link with Prime.   
  
Haha, I wouldn't mind helping you with that task, Optimus responded, taking note of the dent that was now in their back.   
  
Forgetting Megatron for a moment, they focused most of their attacks on Wheeljack, who, despite his injuries, was dodging and avoiding rather well. For a second, Caitlin saw something in the ex-Autobot. Gee, shame he's a Decepticon… She then caught her mistake. Gah! You didn't hear that!!  
  
Hehe, hear _what_?   
  
She smiled inwardly. Glad you don't like to blackmail…   
  
More like I don't prefer making enemies for myself… he corrected after they dove down and knocked Wheeljack silly. Because I shudder to think what sort of horrible pranks you have waiting for me if I do…  
  
Yeesh, after this, I'm done. 'S far as I'm concerned, Scavey and Red won… No more body switching for me…   
  
He chuckled again. Glad you know when to quit…  
  
Suddenly, their thought-conversation was interrupted by a stray RPG, which hit its mark and knocked them to the ground. As Jet Convoy pulled itself to its feet, still reeling, they noticed Megatron, who was about to impale them both on the Starsaber.   
  
He chuckled evilly. "I suppose this is where it ends, Prime," He said just as maliciously, raising the sword above his head. "Now PERISH!"   
  
But the second before the sword would have pierced them, a cascade of flames swallowed Megs and knocked him to the ground. "What the-?!"   
  
Jetfire, still in his new body's dragon form, grinned, satisfied with his work. The Decepticon leader looked about, all of his men either in or on the verge of Stasis lock. "Argh. You may have one this one, Optimus, but I WILL win sooner or later… RETREAT!" He bellowed, warping away from the battlefield.   
  
WHOO! YEAH! WE RULE! Caitlin exclaimed happily in her mind.   
  
You did rather well, despite the fact you weren't really in your own body… And were much easier to work with, He added, followed by, But Jetfire doesn't really need to know that little fact…  
  
My lips are sealed… And that was kinda fun... I Just have to watch my mouth if I end up this way again...   
  
Jetfire ran up, now in robot mode, and he was grinning. "Hehe, cool! You guys did great!" He then looked to Optimus, after they had de-powerlinked. "Uhh… can you make RedAlert and Scavenger switch us back…? Please…? Because I REALLY didn't like the way Blenderbutt was looking at me…"   
  
Optimus smirked under his mask. "I suppose they will… IF you end this little war…"   
  
Jetfire looked to Caitlin, nodding vigorously. "Finefinefine! I just need to get outta this body...."   
  
"Here, here!" She agreed, nodding with just as much energy.   
  
After getting ahold of the Minicon, they warped back to the base, and as they walked out of the warpgate, Caitlin caught RedAlert by the shoulder.   
  
"Yes?" He asked, smug once more.   
  
"Okay, fine. You and Scavenger win. Just change us back, alright?"   
  
He turned to face her fully. "No more pranks?"   
  
Jetfire had walked up behind them. "No more pranks…"   
  
"As long as there are no more jokes, I'll agree to it. Now come with me," RedAlert told them, heading to the medbay.   
  
Little did he or Scavenger know, that both Jetfire and Caitlin had their fingers crossed, the two already plotting their  revenge…   
  
  
  
TBC   
  
  
  
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DMK: strange chapter, strange place to end it, but oh heck, that's as far as I was about to get anyways. Now that most (note: MOST) of the prank war arc is done, it'll serious up a bit… But there'll be humor here and there… AND, the hint towards the pair was in there… if ya caught it, and wanna guess, go ahead. :D now, I leave. Bye! AND REVIEW!! 


	13. An Almost Victory

DMK: YAY! SOMEONE GUESSED IT RIGHT!

Hotshot: Yeah! *applauds* A big hand to the guy for picking it up first! …as much as I don't like the idea…

DMK: …oh hell, he's being nice to you again. Quitcher glitchin' and moaning and just say my disclaimer… I haven't done that in a while…

Hotshot: fine fine… Duel Mistress Kay doesn't own Transformers… if she did, she wouldn't be here on this site…

DMK: thaaaaank you! And now, chapter 13! …Which, sorry, is mainly a filler… but Cait gets a boost to her self-esteem in combat! She comes _SO_ close to-*cuts to chapter before she ruins it*

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Chapter 13

            BOOM!

            "OW! DANGIT! LAY OFF!"

            Scavenger smirked as he lowered his fist for a split second. "If you ask Megatron to 'lay off' do you HONESTLY think he will?"

            "Well, no but-"

            "Then quit whining!" With another lunge, Scavenger rammed Caitlin hard, sending her stumbling backwards. "And fight back!"

            Oh, how she wanted to, but she still thought of all of them more as friends than as members of the same team. She didn't like hurting them. "Well if you want it, come and get it!" Still in her robot mode, she went on the attack, beating the air with her large wings and using the thrusters mounted in her feet to rise over his head. But she had left one thing unguarded: her dragon tail. 

            "You don't have a good memory bank, do you?" He asked flatly, grabbing the long tail and yanking it hard. Swinging her over his head, he threw her into the ground roughly. 

            "…ow…" She muttered, getting to her knees methodically.

            "Hm, well your endurance is sure improving," He speculated, watching her with both smugness and satisfaction.

            "It'd have to with the way you throw me around…" She said more to herself, rising fully to her feet again. "Alright, fine, let's just continue already…"

            "And your work ethic is improving, too. Good," The mercenary/warrior/combat teacher added as he assumed a fighting stance. At an unspoken command, they both leapt back into the fray.

            Powerlinking with Rollbar, he unleashed his hip-mounted cannon, which Caitlin managed to dodge with a bit of effort. Unfortunately, she was so focused on that, that she neglected the blow that soon followed. Dashing forward, Scavenger hit her side hard, sending the femme reeling. Before hitting the ground however, she transformed into her dragon form and landed on all fours. ((A note: It's almost identical to the Red-Eyes black Metal Dragon… but is blue-green and has sky-blue optics… ^^'')) Baring her fangs, she turned quickly, and rose to her hind legs. Two wing beats and a dash later, Caitlin slammed, claws-first into her teacher, pushing him onto his back. She let the tips of her heat element-infused claws sink into his chest armor, but not deep enough to hurt him. Her mouth was half-open, a fireball igniting deep in the dragon's throat. 

            Unfortunately for Scavenger, her midsection was no longer open to attack. She was learning. "Hm… impressive… But sadly..." he began lowly. If anything, she had too much power to throw around. As one last-ditch ploy, Scavenger reached up with his large hands, and grabbed the dragon around the neck. "It's not over!"

            Screeching with shock and surprise, Caitlin tried to rear back, but Scavenger had a firm hold on her, his fingers able to wrap fully around her neck. "LET ME GO!"

            "I don't think so," He answered in his same, calm voice. 

            "Bad move, Scavey." With that, she drew her head back, and bit down hard.

            "OW!" He let go quickly and stepped back. "Well…you're certainly learning to adapt to any battle situation you find yourself in…" he again speculated, nursing his injured arm a bit tenderly. They seemed like mere pinpricks to him, but they did sting, and her teeth had torn right through the treads on his arm, small amounts of mechfluid rising through the small holes.

            Smiling, Caitlin transformed back. "Ha, so I'm not as bad as I was before… I think…"

            "No…" he flexed his fingers and wrist painfully. "You're certainly not…"

            "You gonna be alright???" She asked, peering at his arm from a safe distance, just in case he was trying to get her to lower her guard.

            "Fine. It's a scratch. Nothing a bit of maintenance won't cure…"

            "Good…so uhh… do we continue?"

            He sighed. "I believe that's enough for now… You ALMOST beat me… almost. That deserves a break…"

            "Yay! Umm… I mean, yes sir." She corrected herself, standing straight. "And next time I'm NOT going to lose."

            He grinned at her vigor, and nodded. "I just might hold you to that…now get out of here before I change my mind."

            "Fine, fine…" Turning on her heel, she walked out of the training hall rather slowly, wincing from the invisible 'bruises' she had suffered. "ow… dang…he hits too hard…" Suddenly, she heard music.

            HER music. And it was coming from Jetfire's quarters. "Breaking the Habit" was the song, to be precise.

            "Aw MAN! JETFIRE! WHO SAID YOU COULD USE MY LINKIN PARK CD?!"

            Jetfire jumped out of his chair. "GAH!" he turned to see Caitlin, who had a peeved look on her face. "Eh-eh… Sideswipe said I could…??" He responded weakly.

            She huffed. "O…kay…."

            The Vice commander looked pleading. "PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE can I copy it????? Please???"

            She put her hands on her hips. "Fine, but next time, ASK me for it?"

            "Promise… oh, and uhh… can I borrow Sum 41 when I'm done?"

            Caitlin looked at him. "What's with the music?"

            "Well that earth music is really good! Well, I like it anyways…So can I?"

            "Sure… just don't scratch them… I can't really go back to Media Play and buy me another "Meteora" if ya do…"

            "Cross my spark, hope to fry, stick a laser needle in my optic!"

            The femme about facevaulted. "Alright…at least I found that darn CD…I thought Carlos took it or something…"

            "Naw, mainframe lapse on my part… So how was training today? You're supposed to be there for another half an hour or two…"

            "…I finally ALMOST beat Scavenger…" She sighed in exasperation. "He's just too good, man."

            "That's why he's a teacher. You saw how Hotshot changed after he got trained… and Sideswipe, too."

            "True…well, I guess that's fine then… But I fought dirty…" she added a bit flustered. "Bit him when he grabbed me 'round the neck…"

            "Ooh, nice move though…"

            "So…you ever get around to 'the plan'?" Caitlin asked spontaneously.

            Jetfire nearly fell over. "YOU SAW WHAT THEY DID TO US LAST TIME!!! …of course. But I think we should wait a while before we try it…"

            "Yeah… anyway, I'm gonna go shoot some targets…hang with Hotshot, ya know…"

            "Go ahead. Just keep an eye out… the war may be over, but there is always that chance…"

            "Great, you've got me paranoid." She sighed heavily. "Well I'm outta here…" She turned and walked out, Jetfire busy plotting revenge…

TBC

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DMK: argh. That was pointless. Really. Took me two study halls and half my lunch period. Blah… :P And Cobalt, sorry, but it ISN'T Optimus. :D Mwahahahaha…Remember, he was a DECEPTICON…and there was a one-liner in the last chapter that pretty much gave it away. So if ya REALLY wanna know…go back and read near the end of the fight… You'll get it. With all of those hints repeated, I leave you now… Ja Ne…


	14. Kidnapped!

DMK: alright! I GOT SO MANY REVIEWS! YEAH! I FEEL SO DANG SPECIAL! *coughs* …anyway, the fic is almost done! Really! Don't be sad though, there's gonna be a sequel! …Durn Flamestrike and her ideas… :P Yeah. So anyways, the fic is gonna start t' serious up from here on in… or will it…? :D

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Chapter 14

            Caitlin walked into the shooting room, where Hotshot, Sideswipe, and Blurr were all busy competing against one another. Remembering that she really had no weapon outside her alt mode, she thought about some kind of gun or weapon of her own.

            "Heya sis!" Sideswipe greeted, throwing his arms around her in one of his trademark bear-hugs. 

            "Hey…" she said, still a bit stunned from this. "Can I join you guys…?"

            Sideswipe let her go, and nodded. "But ya need a gun…"

            "I was just gonna ask you guys about that…"

            "Well there are plenty of weapons in the armory," Blurr answered back, pushing a button on the wall. Almost instantly, part of the wall flipped over, displaying several weapons. 

            "Woah… Where's my Noisy Cricket?" she asked herself, looking at the guns, swords, rocket launchers, cannons…she then noticed something off to one side. "Oooh, what about that?" she questioned Blurr, picking it up.

            "An Energy Crossbow?" Hotshot retorted, watching the femme pick the bow up and look it over. "Why pick that? I just use good old laser pistols, personally."

            "That's if you want an easy way to fight," Blurr then answered. "A crossbow takes a bit of skill…"

            "Nothing a bit of practice wouldn't help, right?"

            "Well, yes. Try and hit a target with it, first."

            "Hm… Okay," She agreed, turning around and facing the target range. A disk was sent flying, and she pulled the crossbow up, across her arm. She pulled the string-like wire back back, and an arrow materialized. It shimmered, being made up of bright green-yellow energy. Quickly, she let the arrow go, and it grazed by the target.

            A miss.

            "Agh…" She grunted, not happy with her performance. 

            Blurr chuckled. "Try again. Every weapon needs breaking in."

            Inhaling, she drew the elastic wire back, and waited for a target to appear. It did, and she fired. Holding her breath, it hit half the target, blowing half the side of. "D'oh…" But, she was determined to hit a target, even if it took her all damn day. With a competitive glint in her optics, she released one more arrow. One that hit its mark completely.

            Bang!

            "YAY!" She exclaimed suddenly, pleased.

            Blurr looked interested. "Beginner's luck. Try that again."

            "Fine, Blue-boy," she responded, which got a small but friendly growl from Blurr, having used her nickname for him. Bringing her focus back onto the target range, she began to shoot and blow up targets with increasing ease… though she would also miss as well. After a good ten minutes' of practicing, she turned to the speedy Autobot. "So? Do I get the bow?"

            Blurr thought about this for a while, then nodded. "You're not at your full potential, but it's quite a bit better than going into battle unarmed. I say you get to keep it."

            "Suh-weet," She responded, looking at the crossbow. "Now to show this to-"

            SCREE! SCREE! SCREE!

            A loud, piercing alarm rang throughout the whole base. The four Transformers in the shooting range looked to one another, and left hurriedly to the command center. Once there, they figured out that it was a Minicon, again, and all quickly moved out. 

            Where they warped, no one knew, except it was windy, cold, foggy… 

            "Reminds me of San Fransisco in the winter," Caitlin muttered to herself, looking around the nearly whited-out landscape. Stepping to the left, she suddenly realized that she wasn't standing on anything. "GAH!" she started to topple over the edge, but caught herself with her wings and brought herself back to solid ground. Looking over, she noticed that below was a rocky cliff overlooking the salty Pacific (they thought) Ocean. "Too. Freaking. Close." 

            "You alright Shorty?" Jetfire asked, which got a growl from his friend.

            "I'm…FINE…now quit calling me that before I- AGH!"

            There was a loud crash, and Caitlin found herself starting to fall over again. She hit the ground, and saw a foggy image of something… Cyclonus.

            "Heeeey baby! Ya miss me?"

            "In your damn dreams, Blenderbutt." She retorted.

            "Aww, too bad!" He reached down to grab her, but never got the chance, thanks to a well-placed shot by both Smokescreen and RedAlert. "OW! NOW WHY DID YA GO AND DO THAT?!" the 'Copter whined as he fell over hard.

            "Because you're a sleezy 'Con!" Smokey retorted, running forward and pinning him to the ground as the two got into an all-out fist-fight. 

            'Thank you, Smokey,' she thought in her head. But suddenly, she heard Hotshot cry out in both shock and pain. The foggy image of the bright yellow mech came into as much a focus as possible, and she noticed something beating on him. 

            "Agh!" Hotshot exclaimed, falling over, knocking what he felt were trees down as well. "Come out, Wheeljack, ya coward!"

            The said Decepticon appeared seconds later, face to face with him. "As you wish," he hissed coldy, that same, evil grin on his face. He pinned Hotshot down, and raised one of his clubs over his head. He tried to swing it down, but found it wouldn't budge. Then he noticed the thick tail that was wrapped around it. "What the?!"

            "Pardon me if I'm interrupting…" Caitlin hissed back, just as coldly. Then, swiftly, she released the club, and smacked Wheeljack hard with her tail, knocking him off of Hotshot and sending him into a rocky wall. Dazed, the black, gold, and teal mech watched as the femme brought her arm up, which held a crossbow. "Now, you have two choices. One, you leave. Or two, you get to meet my little friend here," She told him, motioning to her crossbow. "Choose."

            Wheeljack glared up at the femme, who had a smirk playing across her lips as she leveled the crossbow at him again. She gently tightened her index finger on the trigger, and at that, the Decepticon caught himself grinning. "Do what you will," he said fearlessly.

            "Bad choice, dude," She answered, adding a little more pressure to the trigger.

            But a sudden scream interrupted the tense moment, and Caitlin turned. It had sounded like Smokescreen! Then, in a foggy blur, she noticed someone fall over the same cliff she had minutes before. "Smokescreen!" Turning fully, she took off, diving over the cliffside quickly. Ahead of her, she saw the falling Transformer, shrouded in more of that dense fog, and with a thrust from her engines, she caught up with and grabbed him.

            She didn't notice the rotor on his back.

            "I've gotcha Smokey!"

            "Awww, I didn't know ya cared!"

            She recognized the voice instantly. "Gah! YOU!?"

            Cyclonus cackled in his annoying voice. "I knew you'd come around t' me, Sweetie!" He exclaimed as he brought the femme into a stranglehold, his arms around her neck. He reached over, and punched in a code on his warp controller. With an outcry of shock, Caitlin and Cyclonus were gone.

            Hotshot had made it to the edge of the cliff just in time to catch this. Turning back around, he threw his head back. "OPTIMUS! SCAVENGER! REDALERT! ANYONE?!" He called through the fog. The only one there was the stunned and battered Wheeljack, who was still slumped down against that shattered boulder. Sideswipe came speeding up, having finished his little bout with Demolisher. 

            "Hotshot! What is it?! What's up?!"

            "Caitlin! Cyclonus took Caitlin!"

            "NO! SIS! HE CAN'T!"

            Hotshot growled. "And we can't get to the 'con's base! Primus knows what he's gonna try to do to her!"

            Wheeljack just listened, thoughtful. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he started to miss the camaraderie…Gritting his teeth from the pain in his chest from the strike that femme had given him, he reached down to his wrist and activated the warp drive. The Autobots were going to win this mission as usual… Silently, he returned to the moon base.

            After the fight ended, and the Decepticons had retreated, Optimus and the others gathered back up quickly. Hotshot and Sideswipe were the last to show, and told them the story: Cyclonus had kidnapped Caitlin. 

            Scavenger grimaced with contempt. His student, no, his _friend_, had been abducted… she only knew so much about fighting. This worried him, but made him angry as well. "We HAVE to go after her, Prime," He said quickly. "Who knows what that demented helicopter has in store for her…"

            "But the warp gates are closed…" Blurr added in frustration. "There's no way we could reach the moon…."

            "But we can't just leave her there! If we lost her again… I don't know what I'd do!" Sideswipe reasoned, his emotions taking control. He just couldn't let his 'sister' go without a fight.

            Optimus thought, sighing heavily. "You prove valid points…but I don't think all hope is lost…she may surprise us yet."

            "You can't be serious, Optimus!" Scavenger started. "She's improving her skills, yes, but the chances of her making it back…"

            "Hm…First we're heading back to base. After that we'll convene on this further…"

            "Slaggit… we can't just let the kiddo go…" Smokescreen muttered, Hotshot overhearing and nodding in agreement. 

            But Optimus heard this as well. "Believe me, we are not going to leave Caitlin behind by any means. If we have to storm their base………so be it."

TBC

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DMK: …ooh, bless my habits of writing cliffhangers… ^^'' I just couldn't resist. And sorry this one's short… next one'll be better, I swear. So for the time being, have fun and REVIEW! I'M ALMOST AT 100!!! YAY ME!


	15. Escape!

DMK: YAY! I HIT 100 REVIEWS!!!! :D :D :D :D :D …obviously I'm happy…and also, *sniffle* Resurrection is nearing completion… this being one of the longer and last chapters… there might or might not be one after this…. I'm still thinking about it… And for those of you who are going to say that there is no romance in it, you wait. The sequel is where that picks up… the seed is only just planted here… :D alrighty, enough with the durn author's notes… so yeah, go read! AND REVIEWS WOULD BE NICE!!!!

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Chapter 15

            "Help me! Someone!" Caitlin struggled weakly to escape from her prison, but to no avail. The bars were electric, and so much as touching them resulted in a nasty shock. And her transformation was locked as well… Cyclonus had thought this through. Shouting with contempt and fear, she charged the cell's bars hard, getting shocked and sent into the opposite wall.

            "Now that's enough a' that, Sugar," Cyclonus told her, stepping into the room. "I don't want ya t' hurt yourself before I get my… fun."

            "You're insane!" She shouted. "Let me go and I'll THINK about not killing you right here!"

            "Hmm, No. I don't think so!" She growled, and leaned back against the wall, defeated. "There you go. Now just accept what's coming and buck up! I'm a really nice guy, ya know…"

            "Suuuuure you are…." She muttered lowly, already sulking.

            He grinned lecherously. "Well Sweetheart, I gotta go tell Megs about this little score a' mine… So I'll be seeing ya soon."

            She scowled and looked away, not acknowledging him in the least. The femme only replaced her gaze straight ahead when his footfalls were out of sight. Then, turning around, she looked out the tiny window in her cell, and saw Earth. It was beautiful from up here… yet seemed so fragile. Sighing, she sat back down, looking out at her home planet. As fearless as she seemed, she was scared. Alone and scared and in a whole heap of trouble. She'd give anything to be back at the base, 'repenting' for her pranks, or getting pummeled in a training session with Scavenger.

            Interrupting her thoughts was another set of footfalls. She wheeled around quickly, ready to shoot Cyclonus as soon as he set foot inside the room, but she never did. It was Wheeljack. "I figured he'd put you in here," The mech said quietly, watching from a safe distance. 

            "Yeah, so what's it to you? You come to gloat about this, too?"

            "Perhaps…"

            In the silence, she turned her head and looked down and away from the Decepticon sourly. "You're different than the others…" He said, giving her a searching look. "I don't know why…" He then noticed that she had looked back to Earth longingly. "And why do you look at that planet so much?"

            "It's my home," she answered nonchalantly. "I was born there."

            He scoffed. "All Transformers originated from Cybertron. You're making no sense."

            "I'm not really a Transformer. I was born a human, and your deputy Thrust killed me."

            He stifled his laughter. "You're insane. Probably a lapse in your memory banks."

            "I'm  NOT lying," She spat back, bringing her light blue optics up to his darker teal, a look of sincerity and fire in them.

            "…You really aren't lying, are you?"

            "Why would I?"

            "So you go by your human name?"

            "Yeah. I have yet to think up one for myself… I ain't really the creative type…"

            "What is your name, then?"

            "…It's Caitlin."

            " 'Caitlin'?" He repeated. "…You humans have the strangest names…"

            "Well 'Wheeljack' ain't really normal by Earth standards either…"

            He smirked a little at her sarcasm, but then turned dark. "You know none of them will come for you… they deserted me."

            She snapped her head around. "What?! Of course they will! You don't know them like I do!"

            "I know Hotshot. And I know the way he does things. He left me in that inferno, he'll leave you here as well."

            "You lie," she growled. 

            He sighed and turned around. "Fine. Keep hoping. Maybe you'll get lucky."

            "W-Wait, where are you going?"

            "To recharge."

            "You can't go! Please get me out of here!"

            He looked at her with an expression that said 'You HAVE to be kidding me'. "Give me one reason why I should." She didn't answer, so Wheeljack smiled coldly and started to walk off.

            "I-I don't want to be stuck here when Cyclonus gets back! Don't leave me!"

            He stopped in mid-stride. 'Don't leave me' echoed in his mind, and he suddenly remembered the pain of those many years ago. When he was abandoned. He turned halfway, eyeing her out of the corner of his optics. He felt his steely resolve waver for a moment… what was going on? Why did he stop?

            'Why…am I feeling this way…?' he asked himself in his mind. 'I'm going soft… because of her…?'

            "Please…?" the femme asked again softly.

            Turning around fully, he drew his gun and aimed at the control pad for the cell, and blew it off in one swift motion. The high-voltage bars stopped their electric hum, and deactivated. With a kick, they bent inward and shattered, freeing Caitlin. She stared up at him with confusion as he then smashed the stasis panel that prevented her from transforming.

            "What…did you do that for?"

            "I don't know. Just get the slag out of here before I change my mind."

            She stared at him still, giving him a long, searching look. Slowly, she got to her feet, a bit weak from the numerous failed attempts to escape through the electrified bars. "I have NO idea why you just helped me, but thanks. I owe you."

            "Don't make anything of it," he tried to say with nonchalancy. "Get out of here, Cyclonus will be back soon and I don't want to get caught."

            "Alright…" she smiled, walking by him, but was caught on the shoulder by a soft hand, and was turned halfway to face him.

            "…Take care of that moron, will you?" 

            She blinked once, confused, but then understood. He meant his old 'friend'. "Sure thing…and hey- if you ever change your mind about being a Con… the base door is always open."

            He thought for a little bit, and seemed to lose his hard appearance slightly. "I'll give that a thought…. Now go," he told her, nudging her forward. "You can get out through this hallway and then make a hard left, and at the end of that corridor will be an opening. That transformation of yours will get you through the atmosphere. Good luck." She smiled again, and started to leave. "And one more thing…" he began.

            "…What?"

            "Attack me. Right now."

            "What?! Why?!"

            "I'll say you broke out of the prison and overpowered me. We need to make it look convincing."

            Sighing, Caitlin transformed into her dragon body, and brought her head back. A fireball ignited and started to illuminate the back of her mouth, and then grew brighter. She paused for a moment, compassion being the reason, but the Decepticon before her shook his head and motioned for her to fire. 

            That's when Cyclonus' footfalls reached both of their ears. He was coming back. "Hurry up!" he hissed. "You don't have a lot of time!"

            Fighting off her soft side, she lunged her head forward, the fireball turning into a wave of flames that swallowed Wheeljack for a moment or two. When the flames subsided, the former Autobot was on his back, badly charred, and reeling. Caitlin transformed back quickly and ran to him, sitting him up and looking at him with concern. "You alright? Hey!"

            "I'm fine," he stammered, shrugging off her hand weakly. "Get…out of here… Cyclonus is almost back…"

            Biting her lip, she stood back up, and transformed once again. No longer able to use the hallway that Wheeljack had suggested, she launched another blast of fire at a nearby wall, which blew it out and exposed the barren moon landscape outside. "I'm outta here, and thanks Wheelie, I owe you for this."

            "What did you call me?"

            "Forget it… Just take care of yourself and I'll see you on the battlefield." With a dive, she jumped clear of the base and opened her wings, gliding to a stop on the surface of the moon, and out of Wheeljack's sight.

            "Yeah…on the battlefield," the Decepticon repeated somberly, looking deep in thought.

            That was when Cyclonus walked into the room. "AGH! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

            'Time to put on a show…' Wheeljack thought. "That…Autobot…she broke out… overpowered me so easily…"

            Growling, the helicopter looked out the new 'window' that Caitlin had made, but saw nothing. She had taken refuge right under his nose for the moment, under a ledge. Once he pulled back, she smirked, and came out of hiding, then cleared the moon's gravity and headed back home…

            'Thanks Wheeljack… I really do owe you…'

TBC

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DMK: ach, here's another author's note, darnit. Well…hope you liked, I think there'll be an aftermath chapter… :D and one more thing, I don't hate Cyclonus. Really I don't. Aside from Wheeljack, he's one of the coolest con's around. It just made more sense for him to be the antagonist. So don't hate Blenderbutt on account of this fanfic… ^_^'' ehh.. Yeah, anyway, bye bye! 


	16. Recovery and Reflection

DMK: *long and tired sigh* FINALLY! IT IS COMPLEEEETEEEED! This is the LAST chapter people, and after that, There might be a sequel! :D If not…I dunno… but ENJOY! …it's just a little finale thing… I don't know why I did this, it's not really a plot point…

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Chapter 16

            "Come on Optimus! We're running out of time!" Hotshot shouted as he rose from his seat, slamming his hands down on the desk in front of him. "Cait needs our help!"

            Optimus nodded slightly, still thinking about this deeply.

            "Prime… we really must go and get her… She doesn't stand a chance on the moon by herself," Scavenger said off to the side, slightly worried. 

            "Scavenger's right!" Hotshot agreed. "I couldn't even hold my own up by myself, how would she?"

            "Wow, I reeeeeeeaaally feel the love here, guys," came a voice from behind them and in the doorway, one with friendly sarcasm. Turning quickly, all of the Autobots and humans present saw Caitlin, who was leaning up against the wall. "I'm SO glad you all have such faith in me…" she added with just as much cynicism. 

            "Sis!" Sideswipe exclaimed, running at her full gallop and throwing his arms around her tightly. "I-I don't believe it! You made it back, safe!"

            She smiled weakly, more because her oxygen filters were being badly constricted by her surrogate brother. "Yeah…I'm just fine… Wheeljack had to save my butt, but I'm alright…"

            Hotshot stared. "HE SAVED YOU!?"

            "Yeah…" she responded in a strangled tone, at which Sideswipe let her go. "Believe it or not."

            Scavenger looked over at Optimus a bit dumbstruck, wondering how he saw this coming, but the Autobot leader didn't seem to notice. "Well I'm glad you've mad it back safely, Caitlin," he said kindly. 

            "Yeah!" Smokescreen agreed. "We were just about to storm the 'Cons' base when you showed up!"

            "Aww, that would have been fun to see," she said a bit playfully. "Cyclonus seriously needs some more butt-kicking…" 

            "You alright though?" Jetfire asked his friend. "Must've taken a bit of a beating up there, right?"

"N-no, I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle…" 

            RedAlert furrowed his brow underneath his visor curiously. "Are you sure…?"

"Trust me, Red, I'm in once piece and as healthy as can be." Then, she wavered a little bit, her systems shorting out for only a millisecond. 

            Unfortunately for the femme, the said medic picked up on this. He stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and started to lead her to the medbay. "Come with me," He said seriously.

            "Hey! I ain't damaged! You can't do that t' me!"

            "Oh, don't give me that," He smirked back playfully. "I can tell what's wrong when even you can't…"

            She looked back to Optimus. "Gah! Prime! Help! I don't need any tech support!"

            Her leader looked her over from a distance. "You look a bit burnt…"

            "Aw man! I'm FINE!"

            "No you're not! Now at least let me see what happened and then I'll let you go."

            "Tch… Fine." She stopped resisting and slouched over, following RedAlert meekly to the medical bay.

            An hour later, she walked out of the medbay, after Red had to repair numerous circuits that had blown from the high voltage she had coursing through her body, muttering a sore but grateful thank you to him. She took one step forward-and ran smack into Scavenger. He looked down on her with his stern optics as usual.

            "Oh yeah, training. I'll be there in five," she said to him casually, brushing past him.

            The mercenary stared after her. "I never said you had to train, you know…"

            Turning around, her look puzzled, she only asked, "What?"

            "You don't have to, today anyways. I'm giving you the day off."

            "Ooookay… who are you, and what have you done with the REAL Scavenger?"

            He didn't blink an optic. "I can assure you, I'm the original. Now go rest…"

            She gave him a searching look, trying to gather what was going on. "What gives? You're never this nice to me…"

            "I'm not a completely heartless being, you know…." He said a tad defensively. "Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to be kind…"

            Not able to shake that odd feeling, she couldn't help but stare at him funny. "You're serious?"

            He nodded. "I think I speak on behalf of the rest of us, but I'm just glad you're safe."

            "Aww… don't get mushy on me, dude." She started a bit gruffly. "…But thanks. Aside from the fact that you pummel me daily, you're a great friend."

            He grinned in a soft manner, then nudged her forward. "Go already. I'll be seeing you later."

            "Alright." And with that, she walked off, looking for a place to think. 

***LATER***

            Sideswipe walked alone inside the cave that lead to the look out which observed the canyon and the sunset. It surprised him that Caitlin was already there. "Hey… Caitlin.……? Are you alright…?"

            She turned her head to look at him. "Me? I'm alright… I'm just thinking about what happened to me today…"

            "He didn't do anything to you… did he?" the young mech asked as he sat down beside her, concerned.

            "No… I got away before he could. I just wonder what the heck is up with Wheeljack and all…"

            "Oh." He looked down, also thinking. "Him. Well I don't know much about how he thinks…He might be coming around though…"

            "Yeah… Possibly…" her mind then drifted to other things. "You know… I really haven't given a Transformer name a thought…"

            Sideswipe looked up at her. "Hmm… what would you like to be your name?"

            "I don't really know…" She looked up to the stars, thinking again.

            "…Starwind? Starsong? Windstar?" Sideswipe began, following her gaze up to the sky.

            Her head shot up. "Wind…wind… Hey! Windracer!"

            Sideswipe grinned. "Yeah! I like that!" he said contentedly, thinking about it. "That really does sound like a good name…"

            "Yeah… Windracer…"

            _"Okay…I don't know what the future has in store for me, but I have to say that it isn't as bad as it could be. Being a Transformer has its perks… and its downsides. Yeah, I'm scared about what sort of stunts Cyclonus will try to pull next, and not happy about how badly Scavenger beats me when I train, but hey- it's life. I have to get used to it. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to become a human again… but I doubt that. Also, there's one thing that's getting me to think… Wheeljack. What's his game? Why did he show me, of all people, compassion? Maybe he's turning a new leaf, or maybe he's not as evil as Hotshot makes him out to be…I owe all the Transformers for me being here right now, and not dead or in Cyclonus' evil and rather demented grip. I miss being a human, of course I do, but it might not be that bad…I'll just have to wait and see, won't I?"_

The End…

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DMK: ha! I'm DONE! THANK THE MERCIFUL GODS! Hoo, sorry, that wasn't supposed to be so long… really it wasn't… Oh well. Now, I'm going to work on SOMETHING… probably "Heavy Metal War: Future Century", OR reach back into my memory and finish "A New Bot In Town"…one can only wait and see! I leave you now with smiles! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D


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